Paper and Words
by Superpsych96
Summary: Shawn Spencer is a surprisingly successful young author, with an interesting writing style. Juliet O'Hara is an aspiring young English major at Santa Barbara University. Shawn wants to take her under his wing, but can he, and do they want to keep it professional? Shawn's old lifestyle may be in danger. Adult content and some whumpage, because who didn't see that coming from me?
1. Coffee Shops and Lecture Halls

The rain came down to Earth in cold, stinging sheets. People ran with jackets and umbrellas pulled over their heads as they went this way and that in the storm. A young man with wild hair ducked into a low key looking coffee shop hidden between two small storefronts.

"Hey, over here." a smiling blonde womanl asked from a table. The young man looked around to see he was the only one in the cozy little shop. "Yes you, crazy hair." the blonde smiled at him even brighter and waved him over.

"Well hello to you too." he smiled back before returning his attention to looking at the coffee-based drinks written in various colored chalks on the board above the friendly young barista. "I think I'm feeling the medium mocha today, my good woman." He addressed the woman behind the counter. He reached into his wallet for the $4.00 that the drink would run him. He usually went for the plain coffee, but he felt obligated to go from the menu. He always did for meetings and interviews.

"Don't worry about it, stranger." the young blonde said happily, going from her chair to his side at the counter. "I'm just happy to have an interview subject. It's on me." the blonde pushed his hand away when he tried to hand the barista money. He stuck his hand out with a wide, genuine smile. "Shawn."

"Juliet." she replied, taking his hand in her smaller one. "Nice to meet you, Shawn."

"The pleasure is mine, I promise." Shawn smirked at Juliet, causing her to blush something fierce. "So why me, and why here? It seems like a hipster's paradise in here." Shawn commented, looking at the odd art hanging on the wall. He never got the modern stuff much. While she was distracted by this friendlier than expected man, Shawn took the chance to pay for his own drink. He had more money than her and he knew it. Shawn Spencer wasn't exactly strapped for cash.

"This is a little gem, a hole in the wall. I only found it because I was looking for something like this. I've read all of your work, and I knew you lived in the same town I'm going to college in, so it just made sense." Juliet found herself falling into regular conversation with a total stranger. She felt like she knew him from his writing, more or less.

"I love the atmosphere by the way. I'm not usually one for hipsters, but it's not bad." Shawn mentioned, taking a sip from the cup he had just received. "Ah fuck!" he shouted, holding a hand over his burned mouth. "Son of a bitch!" he continued to curse.

"Oh my God, are you okay?" Juliet came around from her side of the table and put her arm around the poor, slumped over man.

"Yeah, yeah, that was all me." Shawn said in anger towards himself. "I should have seen that coming, I'm better than that." he said, pulling a chair from the little fake granite top tables. "Of course it's hot, it's coffee." Shawn couldn't stop rambling about his little fuck up.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Juliet asked, worry in her eyes.

"Absolutely. I fuck up all the time. I'm a writer, but not very graceful off the page." Shawn chuckled to himself. "Alright, ready to get this party started?" The two sat down together at the small table and sipped their coffee. Shawn fiddled with his cup as he waited for Juliet to begin the barrage of questions. "Juliet, you are going to interview me instead of just stare at me, right?" Shawn raised a brow and smirked at her, causing Juliet to blush a rosy shade. He would have gone after her with a tirrade of innuendos if she was the usual reporter.

"The paper, right." Juliet remembered the college English assignment she had called Shawn to this little shop for. Juliet never got star struck per say, but she could lose hold of her thoughts. "First things first I guess." she shrugged, not used to interviewing such a big player in the game at his young age. "How did you become such a common name in the literary world at age 25?"

"Shit, because I had some ideas, wrote them down, made some novels and people just ate my shit up. Like any musician really. Everyone always expects writers to be in the last half of their lives. I have plenty of juice left, I hope." Shawn ran a hand through his thick hair, not sure why he was nervous. He'd done bigger interviews than this.

"Where do you get such in depth ideas for the cases in your crime novels?" Juliet was beginning to shake out and talk to him like the person he was, not a hotshot young author. He was only four years older than her for God's sake. He always got such a troublesome reputation though. He wasn't exactly the face of innocence in Santa Barbara, but not the worst guy either.

"My dad was a detective and a cop when I was little. He used to tell me about every case in excruciating detail, whether I wanted him to or not. Those cases and him telling me how they solved them, made for a real good idea generator up here, you know?" Shawn asked rhetorically, pointing to his head. "Wasn't much of a childhood though. It kind of leaves a guy a bit fucked up in the head. He tried to get me to become some kind of crazy super cop. I guess that's why I don't mind the amount of detail I use and what the details focus on." Shawn raised his eyebrows as he took a gentle sip from his cup again, well aware of what material and details he was talking about. He usually went through the routine of his dad's influence, but this was the first time he'd gone into that sort of depth and hinting at the lingering after effect.

Juliet scribbled down some notes, along with taking in every word he said, locking it away in her memory. It wasn't every day she got to talk with a New York Times bestseller, let alone her favorite. From other interviews she'd seen and read, she knew he was letting her in on groundbreaking info. "What do you have the hardest time writing about?" Juliet couldn't help but to chew on her pencil and watch every little body movement Shawn made.

"I don't know, that's not a question people usually ask me." Shawn stated hesitantly, staring down at his straw wrapper crawling snake. "They don't usually care about that. It's usually recent projects or what's in the works."

"You don't have to answer it if you don't want to." Juliet replied shyly, afraid she crossed some kind of boundary she didn't know about. She knew it was a task to keep Shawn in an interview chair. He was like a bomb most of the time, completely unpredictable.

"It's fine. I've wrote about drugs, sex and daddy issues. There isn't really a line with me." Shawn chuckled, meeting her eyes again. Shawn looked like he was going to speak again, his mouth open but words not coming. "I guess I'd have to say… writing a melancholy atmosphere, you know? The feeling everybody gets, but describing it accurately without being too generic. I also try to keep how I feel at the time a secret. Sometimes that can leak into the novel without ever catching it. Reading a passionate writer's work is like a game of Where's Waldo. The author's real feeling is in there somewhere. There's so many different ways a melancholy feeling can hit, and each way has a different description. When you fuck up on writing a melancholy or relatable feeling, is when the people who've been there really jump on you." Shawn gulped deeply from the foam cup, enjoying the heat more than the flavor. It was much too sweet for his liking. He was more of an alcohol man himself, but he'd avoid that topic if he could. "Lady, I can feel you eye fucking me from here!" Shawn called out to the barista that had been watching him nonstop since he came in. Shawn had tipped her well, he could defend his body if he wanted to. Even if it was just mentally.

Juliet had to fight back a spit take with all her might. She'd never heard anyone so upfront and carefree about their choice of words. "This is a tame interview for you, isn't it? Are you holding back for some reason?" Her eyes glittered with entertainment at the strange man in front of her, not sure what to make of him just yet.

"Absolutely." he answered in earnest. "I'm usually unhinged during these damn things. It's always for some magazine or some shit. They're there to talk to me because they were told to or because there's a paycheck behind it. You read my shit and very politely asked me to talk to you about it. Fuck, you even offered to buy MY drink when you're a poor as Hell college kid, am I right?" Shawn smirked, knowing how the game was played. He wasn't stupid. "I'm behaving myself and having a good time because you care. This is the shit I write for, not the Rolling Stones. The Stones wouldn't get this kind of shtick from me under the pain of tickle torture."

"Would you unhinge if I asked you to? If I said pretty please?" Juliet smiled brightly, really wanting to see what Shawn Spencer looked like in his natural mental habitat. "I won't turn in any of the really personal stuff, I promise." Juliet peaked her fingertips together like she was begging.

"Juliet, you seem great, like a really great girl. That being said, I refuse to let you really know me. It's not a good idea. I'm not exactly school appropriate." Shawn rubbed the back of his neck and looked at her sheepishly. Was Shawn Spencer really not proud of who he was?

"Your books aren't exactly either, Shawn. You're a pretty graphic guy. I think that's why I like your style. Why should you be polished and refined when the world around us is crazy? You don't pull the wool over our eyes with a pen like a lot of people do. 1st Amendment, damn it!" Juliet smiled back when Shawn beamed at her. He'd be lying if he said that wasn't the most honest review he ever had. If Juliet wanted more, she would have to let go a little bit too. Give and take.

"That's fucking right, Juliet." Shawn stuck his fist out, waiting for her to bump it with hers. "Don't leave me hanging here, woman." he continued to look at her expectantly until she returned his gesture. "That's better, a little weak, but better." Shawn smiled again, his wish fulfilled. "So this whole paper, what's the deal with it?" he smiled out of genuine curiosity.

"Shawn Spencer, are you taking interest in a lowly college girl's homework?" She couldn't hide the smile that spread across her beautiful face.

"You brought me into this paper, Juliet, and I can take myself out of it." Shawn reworded the age old threat that parents nationwide were so enamored with. "Yes I'm curious. Not every kid with a 200 level English class flags down celebrity authors." Shawn pointed out like it was obvious.

"I'm taking a journalism course and a separate Creative Writing class. I can actually hand this paper in for both. Interview for Journalism, and learning more about our inspirations for the Creative Writing." Juliet explained, blushing yet again when Shawn smiled at being called one of her inspirations.

"If I'm one of your inspirations, you must be into some pretty heavy shit, huh?" Shawn asked with a raised eyebrow. He wasn't exactly the softest writer, so if she drew ideas from him, then she wasn't a little bitch with a pen either. "Got anything with you I can take a look at?" Shawn asked hopefully, finding himself becoming more and more involved with this blonde beauty's academics and mind. He did enjoy a good gritty read every now and then.

"As much as I'd love to have my work shot to shit by you, we're here so I can ask you questions, remember?" Juliet giggled at how excited Shawn could become over a simple writing sample. He may be damn good at what he does, but he was still only 25 years old.

"Oh shit!" Shawn said in exasperation when his phone began buzzing in his pocket. "I forgot, I have another appointment in about twenty minutes." Shawn looked apologetic, hating to cut it short and hoping she had enough to go off of for her paper.

Juliet sighed in a disgruntled fashion, hating to leave this current setup as well. "Yeah, I have class to get to anyway." The pair of young aspiring writers got up and shook hands. "It was so great to meet you. Thank you for taking the time to see me for a silly paper." Juliet smiled, still not completely believing her luck even after the interview.

"Likewise. It's not very often I get to meet someone I don't hate." Shawn said with a big smile. It seemed like a harsh thing to say but he really meant it.

* * *

Shawn Spencer ran up the seemingly endless stairway as he scrambled to get to his next appointment. He thought having a quick nerve killer at a closeby bar seemed like a good idea, but he didn't think he'd run into the boyfriend of a girl he slept with only a month ago. She swore she was single and Shawn didn't ask twice. Looking back at it, he really thought he had to start curbing that shit. One of these days he'd meet a nice girl, like that Juliet he'd met only an hour ago. She wouldn't want anything to really do with him, being a drunk and someone willing to sleep with anyone he saw as over a 7 in his mind.

Finally he reached the right room and checked his split lip to make sure it wasn't that bad. He smirked to himself upon coming to the realization he didn't really give a shit. "Good afternoon, class." Shawn said in a booming voice once he pushed open the massive oak door to the lecture hall. "I'm your guest speaker, Shawn Spencer. None of that Mr. Spencer shit. Mr. Spencer is my father and I will have no identity mistakes here." He was quite serious but the class thought it was pretty good. "I don't know how long I'm here, I'm assuming an hour. Just to be safe, I'm really good at making shit up on the fly." Shawn looked at his watch and then up at the faces in the crowd. The girls seemed thrilled to have him, along with the nerds. The young men that viewed themselves as studs seemed to dislike him for the female attention he was attracting.

"Today we'll be talking about a good plot line. How to pick it, what to look for and how to keep it alive. Before I begin, any questions?" Shawn asked, seeing if he'd have anything off the bat. He always liked questions, serious or smart ass were good enough for him. Smart asses were his favorite. The only person who hates a smart ass is a dumb ass.

Two hands flew up immediately, a young man in a polo and a young lady in a Cardigan jacket. "Yes, you there in the fancy jacket, even though it's not that cold out." Shawn called, pointing the bubbly red head.

"So Shawn, do you find your young age to make you nervous in front of a crowd, regardless of the fact that you're hot?" This girl didn't waste time. She must be in the rich kids club that Shawn wasn't to big on. Just because you have a lot of money, doesn't mean you need to be a dick about it. Shawn was Exhibit A on that.

"Absolutely. I'm younger than some of you guys up there. I'm definitely younger than your professors. Professor Windsor over there is easily old enough to be my father." Shawn replied quickly, deciding to ignore her blatant pass at him.

* * *

"Just a quick recap. Make sure the plot is kick ass, build up and don't jump in or you will usually find a confused audience wondering why the Hell there was no intro or backstory. Be original, don't do something you've already read a million times. Don't be afraid to push as close as you can to the line, because spicy sells. Any last questions?" Shawn clapped his hands together once, thinking this gig was sealed deal. "Yes, you there. I see your hand, but that's it. There's a big ass light where your head should be."

"When it comes to finding and working on a plot for romance, what's your method?" Shawn knew that voice. He really wished now that he could see her face. Juliet's face was definitely one he wouldn't complain about seeing on a regular basis.

Shawn chuckled to himself and paced back and forth a little, the girls waited intently to see how the suave Shawn Spencer made his famous romance novels. Could he push them out on a whim, or was he actually something of a real romantic? "To write a good romance, I find, the writer has to be in one, or really want one. I've never met a happy bachelor who could put out a romance that was more than porn on paper. I'm not saying that's a bad thing, people. 50 Shades did well, didn't it?" Shawn paused and chuckled again. He'd never go this deep if Juliet hadn't asked it. He felt like this was her closer on things she wanted to ask during the interview. "A good romance needs feeling, it needs soul. Sex can be a good thing, a lot of people like to see it like the prize you get in the bottom of the cereal box. But what's big in a romance, what keeps it burning red hot, is a chase. You can get close in the beginning, but then pull it out of there and tease with it. Bring back the whole package later when it's deepr in, not too soon if you're writing something racier. The protagonists just can't automatically jump into the story and quickly bang it out." He was serious, but his terminology earned him a laugh from the more immature crowd. "They have to know that love doesn't come free, that there's always a fight and it's never easy. They have to learn more about themselves through the story. They have to become better than they were at the beginning. Growth is a major aspect. There's a dick joke in there if you guys really want to take it that way."

The professor of the class now stood up and began the ovation, signalling to Shawn and everyone else that he was out of time. He also didn't want Shawn to have these kids writing like the deviants they were outside of his classes. As deviant as most of them were, anyway.

"Fuck this, I'm outta here!" Shawn shouted as his way of saying goodbye, earning him more applause. Shawn was booked for a full week of talks. Juliet just might be enough to make them worth more than the cash that the university was shelling.


	2. New Projects

"Okay, so that's all I got for you folks. I hope you enjoyed this week, if not I'm already paid, so sucks to be you." Shawn clasped his hands together and smiled. "It's December, right? So happy holidays and all that shit too." Shawn waved and took his exit to a ruckus of claps. Apparently they did like him.

Outside of the university, Shawn tried to flag down a taxi. Santa Barbara's winters were far from terrible and snowy, but they weren't motorcycle friendly either. "Yo taxi, don't be a bitch! C'mon son!" Shawn shouted, a very attractive redhead getting the taxi he wanted.

"Need a ride, Shawn?" Juliet asked behind him, using the unlocking mechanism for the doors of her green little Bug from her keys. "It's no trouble, really." she smiled, brushing a lock of perfect blonde hair from her face.

"I don't know, I don't take rides from strangers. Mom said it's not safe." Shawn said in a serious tone. "The candy has to be really good."

"Am I the kind of girl your mama warned you about, Shawn?" Juliet smiled, completely catching him off guard. "Want a ride or not?"

"If it's not too far out of your way." Shawn stuck his hands in his pocket and tilted his head to the side like a puppy.

"Get over here." Juliet rolled her eyes and giggled. "Where to?"

"Is O'Brian's an acceptable destination?" Shawn raised an eyebrow, hoping to go to his favorite bar but not wanting this beautiful girl to judge him.

"Going for a stiff drink after a hard lecture?" Juliet questioned, pulling onto the road.

"I like to ease out of nervous situations, okay?" Shawn threw his hands up like she'd hit him. "I like to ease into them too."

"I still don't get why you were nervous, Shawn. We all loved you. You're a great writer and we ate up everything you had to say. Did you see how some of the girls were looking at you?" Juliet watched him from the corner of her eye.

"I just don't do well in the spotlight, Juliet. That's why I'm a writer." Shawn shrugged. "And sometimes people can take a joke on a page better than they can in a real situation."

"Relax Shawn, I was just making conversation. I'm sorry if I just hit a sore spot." Juliet frowned.

"Me? With a soft spot? Please." Shawn scoffed at Juliet's earnest apology. "I just like a little drink here and there."

"I've seen footage Shawn, are you sure you're going to have just a little drink?" Juliet asked in a serious tone. She was growing a form of friendship with him, or so she hoped. She was worrying a little, if she was going to be honest with herself.

"A little buzz helps me write, but I wasn't going to inspire a new generation of drinkers. There's enough of us already." Shawn chuckled, running a hand through his hair. It had been calm and treated for his speech, but so much now.

Juliet came to a stop in front of the establishment and waited on Shawn's next move.

Shawn reached for the door handle, but stopped. "Care to come in, I'll buy?" Shawn offered, trying not to sound too hopeful.

"I would, but I still have a paper due before midnight. I still need 570 words. It's not much, but I don't want to sit on it." Juliet frowned again, a face Shawn was learning to dislike. He wanted to see her happy, damn it.

"Juliet, this is Shawn Spencer here. I can help you with a college paper." Shawn told her confidently.

"Shawn, you're a published writer. There's better things for an award winner to do than help a girl with homework. Have fun, Shawn. I'll see you around?"

"Absolutely. You have a good day, Juliet." Shawn smiled in an attempt to block the hurt from Juliet's soft rejection. He really didn't have anything better to do.

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"Get the fuck out of here before you really get hurt, Spencer." Jeff the bar tender whispered in Shawn's ear after he had been tossed into the bar counter again.

Shawn only smirked at him before turning around and throwing himself into the much bigger man, only to be knocked to the ground with a busted lip.

Before he could do anything else, three cops grabbed the giant man, causing him to yell out in rage. A man in a suit pulled Shawn up by the collar. "We're bringing you in this time, Spencer. I've had enough of your drunken bullshit." The detective spat, pushing him towards the door.

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"This is Juliet. Who's this?" Juliet asked into the phone in confusion at the unknown number.

 _"J Jules! You picked up!"_ Shawn slurred happily into the phone. "I wasn't sure if you would. What's up girl?"

"Shawn, are you feeling okay?" Juliet asked from the other end. "Where are you?"

"I may or may not be in jail..." Shawn trailed off, not being able to lie but not being able to come out with the truth.

"You're in jail?!" Juliet shouted out of surprise and anger. Anger? She started to wonder if she had the right to be angry. Why should she care about what Shawn Spencer does?

"So when I told you I was only drinking a little... I lied. It was a lot, actually." Shawn weakly explained.

"Oh my God, where you drunk driving, Shawn? What the fuck were you thinking?" Juliet shouted at Shawn for being so stupid when he was really a brilliant guy.

"No no, I didn't even touch a key. You dropped me off, remember? I started a fight and they threw me in here." Shawn finished the story, not caring to give details about the scuffle for his own pride's sake.

"Are you okay? Do you need me to come get you?" Juliet offered. Shawn couldn't figure out why she would care, why she would offer to help him. He just came clean about doing something really fucking stupid, and she still cares.

"Nah, I'm good. I think I'm just gonna stay the night, you know? I'll just walk home tomorrow. They gave me the one phone call deal, so..." Shawn paused, not wanting to go into why he called her yet. "I wanted to call you. If I wind up in the news or the paper, it's not a big deal. No one was really hurt. Oh! Before I forget, how'd finishing the paper go?" Shawn asked quickly, getting it out of the way.

"Shawn, don't you have family you could have called instead of a girl you just met a week ago?" Juliet found it really odd that he called her.

"I do, but... I didn't want to. If I get to talk to someone before a night of 'think about what you've done', out of the people I know, it's you." Shawn confided. "I should probably go. This cop keeps staring at me like I stole his lucky charms. Night, Jules." There was an uncomfortable silence on the other end, making him think Juliet hung up. "Jules?"

"Goodnight... Shawn." The tone clicked and Juliet was left holding her phone to her ear in the middle of her dorm room. She was thankful that she was one of the few to have her own room. Parental donations were nice sometimes. No one else had to here her conversation with a drunk Shawn. He didn't sound over slurred though, just oddly open and vulnerable. What was he hiding but hoping she would find?

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

The next morning, Shawn's favorite officer unlocked the cell and let him go. "That's a ton, Buzz. I get the feeling Santa's gonna be good to you this year." Shawn put his finger to his temple as if he had this odd connection with the big man.

"Shawn, you're a good guy. I don't know why you insist on getting yourself into trouble." Buzz shook his head with a frown. Shawn was better than this and Shawn knew it, so did Buzz.

"When will I see you again, Spencer?" Detective Carlton Lassiter asked with a smirk. It was like he enjoyed seeing Shawn in here.

"Count on it pretty soon, Lassie." Shawn almost clapped a hand on his shoulder but stopped after seeing the 'I will end you' glare. "Quicker than DiCaprio can win an Oscar."

"Hey." Juliet said with a smile in front of the police hall's front desk. "About time you guys get him out." Juliet wrapped her arm around his. "Are we good here?"

"Spencer, who's this?" Lassiter had a very interested and entertained smile.

"I'm Juliet. His girlfriend." Juliet almost growled, looking Lassiter right in the eyes.

"Yeah, we're done here for now." Lassiter smiled knowingly, expecting him to be back soon.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

"Juliet, why are you here?" Shawn asked totally confused.

"You called me last night, Shawn. Remember?" Juliet's voice rose enough to ruin Shawn's morning. "Or were you too drunk to remember anything?"

"I might have had a little too much last night." Shawn tried to make it sound like a small deal. He wasn't expecting the sharp slap that left a stinging red hand print on his cheek.

"What the fuck, Shawn? Do you understand the meaning of 'public image'? Quit discrediting yourself and your work by being an idiot!" Juliet shouted. Don't aim to be a has-been by 30. What part of you thought last night was a good idea?" Juliet's sharp blue eyes demanded an answer.

Before Shawn could answer, his phone went off. He checked the ID and quickly ignored it. Only to be followed by another. "Dad, what!?" Shawn shouted. "I wasn't thinking at all. No I wasn't thinking about how it could affect you. I just said I wasn't thinking at all. Congratulations on being the only father to not ask his kid if he's okay. No no no, fuck YOU." Shawn ended the call and began walking off at a brisk pace, leaving Juliet where she stood on the steps of the police station.

Juliet was speechless. What the Hell just happened to him? One minute she's scolding him, then he gets chewed out by his dad. It was pretty obvious they'd had that call before.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

"Shawn, are you okay? I read about what happened in the paper." Gus asked with genuine worry as his best friend came through the front door of the three bedroom house he and Shawn shared. Shawn was completely disheveled and needed a shower.

"Yeah buddy, I'm good." Shawn patted his shoulder as he walked around him to get upstairs. "Thanks for being the first to care about ME." he mumbled as he closed the door of his bedroom behind him.

"You need to talk, Shawn?" Gus called up after him, jogging up the stairs trying to catch up.

"It's me buddy, of course I don't." Shawn replied, slamming his bedroom door and and taking a seat at his desk. He didn't need to talk, he just needed to write it out. Some of his best inspiration came from his fuck ups and demons. That's the kind of shit that sells, Shawn had learned.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

A knock at the door caused Gus to mutter a multiple of obscenities and pause his Tivo. He also had to put his drink to the side as another knock came down on the hard wood of the front door. "Shawn, why do have to shut out the world? Can't you just go out into the world like everyone else? Then I don't have to be the damn door man." Gus grumbled all the way to the door.

"Hello, can I help you?" Gus asked as when he opened the door to an unfamiliar hot blonde. Gus had an idea why she was here. He couldn't hope to keep track of all the random bimbos that went in at out at Shawn's whims.

"Hi, Shawn's home, right?" she asked not too hopefully, fully aware of what she last said to him. Would he even talk to her?

"Uh, yeah he is. Can I get a name to let him know who's here to see him?" Gus knew the game. When Shawn was obviously pissed or felt like working, he was very picky about his company.

"Yeah, I'm Juliet." she smiled and offered her hand.

"Hi Juliet, I'm Gus." Gus smiled back. This Juliet character seemed different than the rest of Shawn's random lays. She was brighter and seemed more... alive.

"Stay right here, I'll be back." Gus smiled again and took off. It didn't take him long before he was back to the stair landing. "He's not taking any visitors right now." Gus frowned. "He's in the middle of a nap, actually." Gus explained.

"This may sound weird, but I really need to talk to him. Any idea when he'd be able to see me?" Juliet's blue eyes were damn near pleading.

"Go wake his sorry ass up." Gus said before walking away. He'd been taken away from last night's American Duos for long enough. "His room is on the second floor, first room on the right before the bathroom." Gus gave her quick directions before disappearing to the living room.

"Thank you Gus." Juliet said quickly before slowly and quietly ascending the stairs. True enough to Gus's directions, there was a closed door with a sign that read _Shawn's Room: Fuck Off Without Permission for Admittance_. Considering Shawn was a published and award winning author, that seemed somewhat immature. It made her giggle and roll her eyes anyway.

Juliet knocked softly before opening the door. There laid Shawn Spencer on top of the sheets and blankets. His head was buried between two very comfortable looking pillows. His shirt was off, his torso completely bare and his shirt cast aside unceremoniously to the floor.

"Shawn?" Juliet asked softly, sitting next to his sleeping form on the bed. "Shawn?" Juliet tried again, gently giving him a head rub.

"Look what you've done. Now you you're not allowed to stop for half an hour." Shawn smirked into the pillow, his hazel eyes flashing open to find hers. "So what brings you to my room, let alone my house?"

"I owe you an apology, Shawn." Juliet began, but continued to play with Shawn's full head of hair. "Outside of the station, I... I".

"Don't worry, Juliet, it's fine." Shawn told her, rolling over onto his back. Her eyes left his face and swept down his toned body from his round shoulders down to his flat stomach. A small trail of hair teased her from his belly button and disappeared under his jeans. "Eyes up here, beauty." Shawn snapped and pointed.

"I didn't think about how much pressure you're already under, and I'm sorry. You didn't need a tongue lashing from me." Juliet's eyes flashed down to the floor, unable to look at his unreadable expression. Her gaze was drawn back when his hand took hold of hers, though.

"Jules, you're allowed to give me a good tongue lashing anytime." Shawn openly smiled at her. He couldn't remember the last time he'd seen a blush that deep.

"Easy there, Shawn." Juliet warned with a smile she couldn't hide. "I wanted to make sure you're okay, not to mess around."

"Shit Jules, you could have called." Shawn chuckled while he sat up. "I'm fine." Shawn ran a hand through his hair quick, his nervous habit. His emotions weren't something he liked to open. To anyone.

"I'm not so sure I believe you, Spencer." Juliet still wouldn't let go of his hand. After seeing the look on Shawn's face, she felt the need to squeeze his hand a little more. He needed someone, that much she could see.

"Okay, so I haven't exactly been on top of the world lately." Shawn threw up like his discontent wasn't a big deal.

"Well you should be, so why aren't you?" Juliet's free hand subconsciously rubbed little circles on his back as he breathed in deep.

"I really don't wanna talk right now Jules, okay?" Shawn sounded hurt now, not by her but by what was eating him. "You're fantastic, you're smart and funny, fucking gorgeous to boot. You don't need to hear my shit. You have enough without listening to an author who's head is too far down a bottle to do any kind of writing. I'm not worth it, damn it." Shawn mumbled the last bit, his eyes trained on his hands like they were the only things keeping him from dying.

"You listen to me, Shawn. Everyone needs a shoulder. Everyone deserves a shoulder. If you share with me instead of sharing with... Johnny Walker," it didn't take long for Juliet to notice the empty bottle on the floor, "than maybe you could get back to making people happy."

"Juliet, I can't... I can't bring myself to talk. I've never been able to. If you want to know what's going on up here..." Shawn pointed his finger to his temple in the fashion that so often helped him when in deep thought, "read that." His finger moved from his head to point at the open laptop on his desk.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

"That's hands down the deepest, most heartfelt and best work you've ever put down." Juliet spun around slowly to see Shawn laid out on the bed, his chest slowly rising and falling to a gentle rhythm.

Juliet ever so carefully got up from the most comfortable chair she had ever sat in to cross the room and stand over Shawn. Even in his sleep he didn't look peaceful. Something was tearing him to pieces even when his body was at rest. Juliet bent down and placed her mouth dangerously close to brushing his ear. "You are so worth it, Shawn Spencer."

How couldn't she feel that way? She had just read their entire relationship and everything going on in his head and his heart since they had met only at the beginning of the week. There was absolutely no way a man like Shawn could deserve the Hell his heart and his head had him trapped in.

Just before Juliet straightened to her full height, she was taken over wholly by the notion of kissing him. So she did. Without permission or any warning to the sleeping man, she gently pressed her lips to his. She lingered longer than she expected to, but she couldn't bring herself to remove her lips from his. Just before she finally found the willpower, Shawn responded to the kiss.

His lips rose to meet hers before she pulled away. Like a man back from the dead, Shawn quickly bolted up and caught her retreating frame after having been caught. His hand took her wrist and gently pulled her to sit in his lap, her arms wrapping around his neck as they pecked each others lips before locking together solidly.

Both of their tongues left their mouths to collide and move together as they moaned together. Shawn couldn't get enough of Juliet as she ground her ass onto Shawn's growing erection. "God damn it, do I ever want you." Shawn breathed into her neck as he dry humped her to meet her grinding.

Juliet got up long enough to switch positions so she could straddle him, a leg on each side of Shawn. "Do you usually get what you want?" she purred into his ear, giving him an extra violent buck into his lap. "You might have to work a little harder this time."

It was Shawn's turn to thrust up aggressively, causing her to shiver. "I'd say we're about on the same level, Jules." Shawn whispered into her ear, his hand slowly sliding down her back to take a firm hold of her perfect ass.

Juliet leaned forward to attack his mouth, her tongue instantly darting against his lips to beg for entrance as they continued to rock back and forth into each other. "When was the last time you let go, Shawn?" She questioned between hot kisses to his neck and bare shoulders. "When did you last give in to someone that cared about you as much as you did them?"

Juliet's question went temporarily unanswered as Shawn picked her up and spun her around to sit her back down in one fluid motion. She leaned her back into his naked chest when his hands took hold of her firm breasts over her top. "I'm not entirely sure I can say I ever have." Shawn's answer caught her sadly off guard. "I can't remember a girl that wanted more than to sleep with the Spencer name." This confession caused him to stop all motion and to just rest his forehead against her silky blonde hair.

"I want you to believe me when I tell you that there's a lot more to you than just a name, Shawn. I want to stick around to teach you that, if you'll let me."

Juliet's offer left him speechless, but her hand grabbing him through his jeans made him gasp into her hair. His left hand slid under her form fitting top for a better aspect of its last position. His right hand worked skillfully to undo the button and fly of her pants to rub her dampening sex over her panties.

Juliet shot up from his lap and pushed him over onto his back. Without any offer of stopping, she made quick work of Shawn's belt and pants, leaving him in just his boxers before he could give the go ahead or tell her to stop. She damn near pounced on top of him to resume the humping that had began earlier. There was no hope of either of them hiding their want for each other now. "You are going to fuck me, right?" Juliet asked him with a raised eyebrow but her hips still doing work.

Shawn just stared up into her eyes. At first it was a look of 'are you serious?', but then turned into uncertainty. "I don't think I should, Juliet." Shawn winced, waiting for the reaction he expected to come.

Instead of what Shawn thought was going to happen, Juliet lowered her body on top of his and nuzzled into his neck. "After reading what you wrote, I can tell you have some insecurities. I understand. I also remember you saying that the romance is all about the chase."

Shawn could feel her smiling, her lips brushing his neck. He chuckled and didn't try to move. "I'm sorry, Jules." Shawn began to rub small circles on her lower back.

"Don't be sorry. You've been sorry for a lot, but this isn't something you should be sorry for. There's a lot you shouldn't blame yourself for."

"There's a lot you don't know about me, Jules." Shawn locked his fingers together with hers. "There's a lot you probably shouldn't. That's why I can't just do this with you. Do it. Do you."

"All in good time, Shawn. We'll get you taken care of, then we can take care of each other." Juliet smiled and kissed his lips, bucking into him one last time to guarantee she got her point across.


	3. That Kim Is A Total Bitch

**So…. I'm introducing an OC in this chapter. If you guys don't like her, or want to see more of her, let me know by PM or review! I see her played by Kaitlyn Dever in my head...**

Juliet sat patiently on Shawn and Gus's couch, waiting for Shawn to come home from God only knows where. He texted her and said he'd be home ten minutes ago. The front door finally opened, but it wasn't Shawn or Gus. It was a young woman in a jean jacket and a backpack.

"Hey." the mystery girl stated calmly and flicked a 'sup nod' before jogging up the stairs. Shortly after a door closed and the house was silent again. Juliet had no idea who the Hell that was or why she was in Shawn's house, let alone going upstairs. She barely went upstairs herself.

 _Shawn, someone's in your house..._ Juliet thought it appropriate to text Shawn about the house troll.

 _Girl, 'bout 18-20ish? Jean jacket and red backpack?_

 _Yeah…_

 _That's Chelsea. She's cool. Be home in 3… 2…_ The door opened slowly to show just Shawn's head peeking around the door. "Hey Jules!" Shawn greeted her with a big smile. "How were classes today?"

"They were good." Juliet smiled back. "Pretty light day, actually. So… who's Chelsea?" Juliet inquired. Even her face said she felt replaced. "I know we're not technically a thing right now, but she's not…"

"Oh, God no, Jules!" Shawn dismissed with a look of disgust. "I'd never fuck with your emotions like that. That's Chelsea. She lives with me and Gus. We kind of… took her in when she was still in high school. That's not my story to tell though. Hey Chelsea, wanna hang out?!" Shawn yelled up the stairs and waited patiently for a reply. "Jules, before you can even think of it, no there's nothing going on between us in the romantic department, okay? I'm 25 and she's 19. I'm more like an older brother if anything.

"No, not at all. We're cool." Juliet didn't need any reinforcement on Shawn not fucking with her emotions after he said it the first time.

Shawn's pocket buzzed and he checked his phone, laughing out loud at the text. "She says she doesn't want to hang out with one of my random 'harlots'." Shawn couldn't help but laugh at the young lady's word choice. "She's not a random girl, CJ! She's a friend, she's cool!" Shawn shouted back up the stairs.

Another second later, footsteps were heard on the stairs and the young woman appeared again, an apologetic smile on her face. "Shawn told you I thought you were a harlot, didn't he?"

Juliet giggled a little before answering, "Yeah he did, but I think it's funny." Juliet wasn't lying. She couldn't remember the last time she'd heard that word outside of a Shakespeare piece.

Shawn hopped off the couch and offered his spot to Chelsea. "Juliet, this is Chelsea Jackson. Chelsea, this is Juliet O'Hara. Jules, want a beer?" he offered as he disappeared into the kitchen.

"Yeah, why not." Juliet replied in a thankful voice.

"Shawn, can I have one too?" Chelsea asked in a sweet, manipulative tone.

"That depends." Shawn said, peeking his head from around the doorway. "How'd you do on your English test last week?" Shawn popped an eyebrow, which Juliet found to be totally adorable.

"Urgh!" Chelsea groaned and rolled her eyes, thinking back. "I got a 98%." she said happily. Shawn was a hound when it came to her grades and her doinng well in class. He didn't want her to drop out like he did. He wanted Chelsea to graduate, and do a damn good job of it.

"What'd you fuck up on?" Shawn's head never left the doorway.

"I found a typo the professor had, and I corrected it, you know, so he wouldn't fuck it up again." Chelsea shrugged innocently. "So he marked me down and said I shouldn't be so arrogant in the future. Not my fault the dude's a quack!" Chelsea defended herself in a huff.

"First off, great job on kicking that test in the rounds. That professor can suck it, and yes you can have ONE." Shawn emphasized the amount. _**(A/N: I won't post my personal view on the current legal drinking age. This is only a scene that shows Shawn and Chelsea's relationship towards each other. Do not take this as a political statement. Thanks!)**_

"Wait, Professor Randall?" Juliet asked, catching the flying Heineken from the kitchen. Juliet had heard many of stories and had plenty of her own about the old bastard.

"Yeah, you know him?" Chelsea asked with a popped eyebrow, catching hers' too. "I hate that guy!"

"Try having him as your student advisor." Juliet grunted and rolled her eyes, taking a small sip of her beer. She wasn't a tea totaller, but she wasn't a drinker either. At least not usually...

"Shawn, I'm gonna give you the nod on this one." Chelsea looked to Shawn and pointed a thumb back at Juliet. "She's cool in my book."

"Seriously? She's the first one EVER!" Shawn threw his hands up like he was Jesse Owens. "Jules, wanna stay for supper?" Shawn asked hopefully. Chelsea didn't seem to care one way or another, too engrossed in staring at the coffee table, thinking about God only knows what. This kid got the weirdest writing ideas and inspirations at the weirdest times, and then she'd just black out for minutes at a time.

"I guess, if you don't mind." Juliet shrugged like she was some kind of a burden.

"Well that settles it. I know what my next article is gonna be." Chelsea stated evenly, leaning back into the couch. "If it goes like I think it will, there may be Hell to pay…" she left off cryptically. She had a running bi-monthly column in the Santa Barbara Sun. She was proud of her understanding and use of the glorius 1st Amendment. Chelsea was a very outspoken teen. That's another thing that made Shawn love her... but not in that way...

* * *

"Thanks for dinner Gus, it was fantastic." Juliet exclaimed gratefully. It wasn't often she got a real home cooked meal while living in the dorms. Gus sure didn't need anyone to tell him how to cook either. The man was good.

"Bye Juliet!" Gus waved from in the living room, sipping on some kind of wine cooler that Chelsea wouldn't touch if offered, and Shawn couldn't even pronounce the name of.

"It was great meeting you, Juliet. Maybe I'll see you on campus?" Chelsea said with a friendly smile. At first, she had stayed kind of closed off to the three years older blonde, but after a while she had opened up. You just can't hate Juliet O'Hara. Go ahead and try, I dare you.

Shawn ushered Juliet out and closed the door behind them, walking Juliet to the Bug. "I hope you had a good time, Jules. Sometimes you just have to take a while to relax."

"Tonight was perfect, Shawn. Dinner was great, the company was great. It couldn't have been better." Juliet smiled not only at the evening, but at Shawn's close proximity and the way he was devouring her with his eyes. If she didn't do something quick, something indecent might happen right there in the street. "Easy tiger, we have an audience." Juliet patted his chest and pointed to the window.

Shawn turned around just in time to see Gus pull out of the window and a flash of Chelsea's long dark brown hair. "They're gone now." Shawn pointed out, their lips mere millimeters apart now. "A little cliched, but good night kiss?"

Juliet had never heard his voice so hopeful, so pleading. One of her hands took the collar of his sky blue t-shirt and the other rested on his stubble, moving up and down slowly. Their lips only grazed now, but it wasn't quite a kiss yet. "A good romance is all about the chace, remember?"

"You're going to be the death of me, woman." Shawn panted as he slowly pulled away before she could feel just how hopeful he had been and still kind of was. "Good night Jules." Shawn said quickly before running back to the front door.

"Where are you going in such a hurry?" Juliet nagged innocently, though she knew damn well.

"To take a cold shower, and do some paperwork. GAWD!"

* * *

Gus's alarm clock went off bright and early at 8:00 am, effectively waking the entire house. This meant Gus got ready to do whatever the Hell Gus did, Chelsea didn't really do anything till she got ready for her first class of the day at 10:00 am.

Shawn got out of bed, did some push ups, some sit ups, as many pull ups as he could and then went back to bed. Or at least he wanted to, but Gus had different plans. "Shawn, get the Hell out of your room… and get dressed first this time!" Gus yelled from the hallway.

"Why in THE FUCK would I do that?!" Shawn yelled outraged. What could be so important?

"Because you're on the air in 45 minutes." Gus replied cooly when Shawn opened his door. "I got a call asking if you'd do Good Morning Santa Barbara and I said you'd do it."

"Dude, sweet. I'm coming too." Chelsea appeared out of nowhere. No one saw her till she was there, no one heard her door open or anything.

"God damn it woman, quit doing that!" Shawn shouted after Gus jumped three feet into the air. "Creepy fucking house ninja…" Shawn mumbled as he walked past them and down the stairs.

"Love you too, Shawn!" Chelsea called after him. It was impossible to hurt this girl's feelings. You could only make her smile brighter by shouting hate at her. She fed on that shit. It made her strong.

* * *

"Our first guest today is Shawn Spencer, local author and recently on the New York Times Best Seller's List."

"Hey Kim, thanks for having me." Shawn shook her hand and smiled into the camera like a big kid. For quite a while they talked about past works, future plans, and then they came to the present.

"Alright Mr. Spencer." Kim tried to get down to business. For the most part, Shawn had been verbally bobbing and weaving the serious stuff and turning the show into a farce. It's Shawn Spencer.

"Kim, if you call me Mr. Spencer one more time, I'm walking out of her." Shawn told her with a chuckle, but he was dead serious.

"Sorry, Shawn." Kim smiled politely, but she didn't really like the non-formal. She tried to be as professional as possible, even though she was a low rating morning talk show. Shawn didn't really care what happened, for that reason. His bad boy reputation helped him sell. "Anyway, what kind of work can we expect from Shawn Spencer next? What are you working on right now?" Kim leaned forward with genuine interest in her eyes, chewing softly on her pen.

"Stop that Kim, pen chewing is terrible for your teeth." Shawn Spencer was known for calling little stuff out like that, no matter what the interview medium was. "I'm am working on something, as a matter of fact." Shawn leaned back in his chair, getting comfortable. "I'm going back to romance and drama for this one, leaving the gruesome murder and stuff behind, you know?"

"So can we expect a soft, fluffy romance like your first novel? Can we expect the same amount of steam?" Kim asked trying not to sound too eager. Shawn Spencer was the guilty pleasure novelist of many a girl, Juliet O'Hara included.

"It'll have it's soft and fluffy moments, there's going to be some teasing, some hunting for Bigfoot." Shawn rolled his head side to side in thought. "There may be some bumps in the road. The male protagonist isn't going to be the best of people, but hopefully still lovable. In a Martin Riggs with less weapons kind of way, you know?"

"What about the relationship, Shawn? Can we expect hot and heavy in the beginning, or is it slow lift off?"

"I'm not entirely sure yet, Kim. The book is slowly revealing itself to me, kind of how Joanie slowly revealed her love for Chachi. So far though, it looks like there's going to be quite a bit of chase, Kim. And before you ask, I have zero guess on a publication date. If you want any more about the novel, you're going to have to wait till it comes out." Shawn threw his hands up dramatically, knowing the press loved those kinds of cliff hangers. That's the stuff that put him on the Bestseller List.

"One more set of questions, if you have the time." Kim's eyes were pleading.

"I don't see why not. You guys are paying me to be here, right?" Shawn chuckled and pointed at the camera man like he of all people held Shawn's paycheck.

"Do you have a new love interest, Shawn? We've seen you around with this pretty lady quite a few times in the past two weeks. Care to give us a little scoop on her?" Kim's eyebrows danced like Shawn was just going to drop his journal. The pictures on a nearby flat screen of Shawn and Juliet at the coffee shop, at the police station, even close talking in front of Juliet's Bug during close talking were all pretty damning. He couldn't let Juliet get caught in his fame's cross fire. She didn't have time for this shit. He and Gus did because it was their jobs, but Juliet and Chelsea didn't. They deserved normal, hassle free lives and Shawn was going to see to it, even if he lost quite a bit of face. The people would either understand or he wouldn't care.

"No Kim, I don't care to give you any size scoop. If you want a little scoop, get a bowl of Raisin Bran. By the way you've been shifting in your chair the entire interview, you could use the fiber down there. She's off limits." Shawn turned his direction to the cameras. "Any paparazzi watching this: my personal life is none of your damn business. I don't care what you say about me, but the people in my circle, you leave alone." Shawn turned back to Kim with a very rarely documented fire in his eyes. "Kim, you can suck it… you damn tabloid harlot!" Shawn shouted right in her face and was gone.

Gus and Chelsea watched with mixed expressions from just off stage. Gus had a look of 'Oh shit, he went there!', and Chelsea threw up her arms with a giiant smile like Shawn had just kicked a sweet field goal.

 **Well I hope you guys liked this one. Please review, follow, favorite, PM and all that dope stuff. Sorry I'm being damn near dead to the Fanfic world, but 3 jobs and 18 college credits hurts. Please don't give up on me!**


	4. Pudding Is Better Than Manna

Shawn and Juliet's attention was abruptly torn away from Ferris Bueller's Day off by the front door slamming and Chelsea storming upstairs without a word. "Well that hasn't happened in a while." Shawn said calmly, leaving his place from the couch.

Juliet followed him directly. It had only been a week since Juliet had met Chelsea, but the two students had become quite close in such a short amount of time.

At the top of the stairs, everything seemed quiet and calm. Chelsea's door was closed and Blink 182 lightly drifted out to their ears. "Blink 182, not a good sign." Shawn grimaced and knocked on the door softly. "CJ, wanna talk about something?" Shawn asked gently, not being one to push or be pushed.

"No Shawn, I don't need to talk. Nothing but smiles in here." Chelsea replied sarcastically. This is pretty much how the house was except for Gus. Gus would seek out usually Shawn, but sometimes Chelsea, though it went against her 'bottle up then die' policy.

"You can lie to Gus, CJ, but you can't lie to me." Shawn said in a teasing tone, yet quite serious. "I know how this game works, CJ. I'm quite the player myself. Who are you currently writing out the death of?"

"Randall! Who the fuck else!" Chelsea's muffled scream told Shawn what was going on in there.

"Jules, we need to get in there. The distortion tells me she's suffocating herself with her pillow again." Shawn's warning had Juliet busting through the door and wrestling the massive Pillow Pet from Chelsea's grasp.

"Juliet, I was using that!" Chelsea said in a huff, crossing her arms and staring at the navy blue comforter on her bed.

"I can't just stand behind the door while you abuse yourself with a pillow!" Juliet stopped herself and forced a calm breath. "Please, just tell us what's wrong." Juliet pleaded in a soft, caring voice.

"Randall accused me of plagiarism. He hates me, so he's probably going to try to get me suspended. Maybe even expelled." Chelsea's face began to redden and her body shook. It was kind of funny when she did this when a scene of a TV show or movie pissed her off, but in a serious situation it was just frightening.

"I have to fix this. She's entered the Nuclear Tomato Phase." Shawn whispered to Juliet. "Cj, I'll be back. Jules, keep her calm before she has a full blown panic attack."

"Where are you going?" Chelsea asked through ragged deep breaths.

"I'm gonna go have a chat with this Randall ass hole." Fuck with Shawn Spencer all you want, but don't mess with his people. Randall was about to find this out the fun way. Fun for Shawn, at least.

"Come in!" Professor Richard Randall called from behind his office door. When he lifted his head, none other than Shawn Spencer stood in the doorway. "Shawn Spencer, what can I do for you?" Randall did not see this little visit coming.

"Chelsea Jackson. What makes you think she tried to pull a Nixon?" Shawn continued to stand in the doorway defiantly with arms crossed.

"President Nixon had agents read classified documents, he wasn't a thief." Randall corrected with a confused expression.

"I'm a writer, not a historian." Shawn quickly threw the correction aside. "God, you're like arguing with Gus." Shawn mumbled more to himself than to Randall. "Jackson's assignment. I want to see it." Shawn was right back to his stern protectiveness.

"Why are you here on behalf of Jackson?" Randall said in a huff, not sure if he was ready for this fight. Shawn Spencer didn't throw himself into little situations like this if he didn't mean business. SBU used one of his crime novels as a comparison for part of the Criminal Justice program. Shawn wasn't on staff, but his name actually meant something on campus.

"Chelsea is an understudy of mine. I'm her unofficial mentor, if you will." Shawn notified him. He had considerable doubt she would cheat on an English assignment. He could see if she cheated on math or biology... "I want to see her assignment and your basis of accusation." Shawn finally took the plushy seat so he could use the desk space too.

Randall dug around through a stack of papers that seemed to be meticulously organized. "Here is Ms. Jackson's summarization of an article, and here is the article she plagiarized." Randall tried to hold back his confident smirk.

"Well Jack, I can see where she copied pretty plainly. Check this shit out though." Shawn dug in his pocket and pulled out his phone. He speed dialed 3 and turned it to speaker phone, holding up his finger to shush Randall. "Yo CJ, I'm talking to an old buddy of mine and I want to recommend you, but I uh… I can't remember your pen name." Shawn set the trap.

"What's so hard to remember about Tabitha Ridley?" Chelsea was a sarcastic young woman to be sure, but she was still really pissed.

"Alright, sorry to disturb your Phineas and Ferb marathon." Shawn said apologetically.

"Damn it Shawn, I'm not watching…" Shawn hanging up prevented an already enraged Chelsea from popping her top.

"Get all you need there, sonny? Same person. She didn't cite because she would have been citing herself. Here's what I see: you're going to mark her off for not citing, but you're going to pull back the accusation. We good?"

"Mr. Spencer, I believe I'm going to keep my accusation in place. Plagiarism is plagiarism. Even your understudy is not above that." Randall stood his ground.

"First off, it's Shawn. Mr. Spencer is my father. Next off, are you sure you want to play this game, Jack?" Shawn got up and shut the door. The rest of the college didn't need to know about this. "Do you really want to fuck with me?" Shawn sat down and leaned forward on his elbows, fingers peaked just under his nose. "I really hope you do. It's been a while since I played Ding Dong Bag of Shit." Shawn got up and went to the door to go. "You can suck it." Shawn pointed a finger that trembled in controlled anger.

"Mr. Spencer, are you serious? You're going to resort to high school pranks?" Randall asked in disbelief. Instead of a verbal reply, Shawn just flipped him off and left the building.

"Hey, how'd it go?" Juliet asked when Shawn came in the door with a deep sigh.

"Could have gone worse." Shawn said with a smile. "This is going to be fun." Shawn made his eyebrows dance as he took a seat between Juliet and Chelsea.

Gus entered the room, laptop in hand. "What's going on now?" Gus asked, his forehead wrinkled in worry. When Shawn says something is going to be fun, it's usually not fun for Gus.

"I'm going to war Gus, and there's going to be Hell to pay. As much Hell as there is behind John Green's taupe on the nightly news."

"I thought you said things went okay!" Juliet said with worry in her voice. She was worried about what Shawn was going to do publically and privately. She also didn't want to get wrapped up in this "war". Randall was her advisor, too.

"It did go pretty well. This was best case scenario in my head." Shawn explained himself evenly. "The guy's too good for me to discredit, so this has to be in the private sector.

"When do we strike?" Chelsea asked in a dark tone, a small evil smile took hold of her face, scaring the shit out of Juliet and Gus.

"Shawn, are you seriously going to go through with this?" Juliet had to ask when Shawn was rummaging around the kitchen for paper bags.

"Fuck yeah I'm gonna ding dong shit this guy's house." Shawn confirmed. "I don't let people fuck with my family, Jules. I didn't let Mr. Rogers, and I won't let some college professor either."

"Shawn... we have a problem." Gus stood in the kitchen doorway with a loaded paper bag. "He hit us first."

Shawn braced his hands on the counter and lowered his head. With his eyes closed and jaw clenched, he exhaled deeply. "CJ!"

Within moments Chelsea flew through the house and was standing at attention in the kitchen. "Yes sir."

"We're going to war with this SOB. Get the paint ball guns. We're going Paper Brigade on his ass." Shawn Spencer is the last person to start a prank war on. If he feels like it, you will never sleep again.

XxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxX

"Jules, are you in place?" Shawn asked into the walkie-talkie from his position in the bushes.

"Shawn, I told you I don't want anything to do with this." Juliet replied with a sigh. "This is so stupid." she mumbled to herself before face palming at the fact she was there at all.

"Shawn, I'm in place." Chelsea reported from the porch covering over the front door. "I have the package."

"Roger that. Gus, are you good?" Shawn looked over to Gus who was crouching by the professor's car, letting the air out of the tires.

"Jackal Switch engaged." Gus threw a quick thumbs up. Gus jumped to his feet and took the position of an Olympic sprinter. He took off at a full sprint and hit the doorbell before turning and burning down the street.

On cue, Randall opened the door and scanned the street line. Just before he turned back into the safety of his house, Shawn raised his paintball gun to his shoulder and squeezed off two shots. "Spencer!" Randall shouted, stepping off the porch.

Randall was right in Chelsea's drop zone. Ten gallons of chocolate pudding fell down from the sky and drenched him completely. Randall was frozen in place. How was he supposed to snap back from that?

Shawn and Chelsea laughed uncontrollably and Juliet's jaw dropped. She never thought she'd see that happen to Randall, the 35 year old man who thought he was the university's biggest bad ass, drenched in chocolate pudding.

"I still can't believe you guys did that." Juliet tried to sound sincere, but the image left in her head made her fight not to smile.

"Yeah, well we went there, buttercup." Chelsea said with a proud smirk, not sorry at all. "And I'd do it again, too."

"The look on his face!" Juliet finally caved in at the comedy of the situation. "We can never. Do that again." Juliet pushed out between failed attempts of trying not to laugh. "Wait… where's Gus?" Everyone stopped at the realization that Gus was indeed missing.

"Damn it, he never came back with us!" Chelsea pounded her hand on the kitchen counter right next to her coffee. "We have to go back, guys." Chelsea pleaded the case of her only black friend.

"She's right Shawn, we can't leave a man behind." Juliet was also in favor of going back for the poor guy. God only knows what Randall would do to Gus.

This entire situation only caused Shawn to laugh. "Did you guys not see Gus let the air out of Randall's tires? He couldn't catch Gus if he wanted to. He sure as Hell can't catch him on foot. He's weighed down with pudding and Gus is black. He'll be home soon."

"So… do you guys think this whole plagiarism thing is over?" Chelsea asked with a bit of nervousness to her voice, her brown eyes looking dimmer than usual. "I don't want to get kicked out." Chelsea's voice almost cracked, causing Shawn to sigh and Juliet to frown.

"No one is getting kicked out, Chelsea." Juliet assured her. "You might still get a zero on the assignment, but I don't think the Board is going to send you off, especially if Shawn goes up to bat for you."

"Would you do that for me, Shawn? I don't want to hurt your name by having you stick it out for a little paper I fucked up. I should have cited it, I know, but I didn't think to because it was still mine!" Chelsea wiped away a single escaping tear.

"You're damn right I'm going to go to bat. I'll knock the ball out of the park and right into Randall's stupid face." Shawn nodded his head in promise. "I don't know if it'll come to that, but if it does, he's gonna need a pack of ice for his mental nuggs."

"Thanks Shawn, you and Juliet are the best." Chelsea got up from her stool at the kitchen counter and went to wrap Shawn in a loose hug. Shawn waved Juliet over for a group hug. This one time she would ignore Shawn's hand gently resting on her ass, just for the sake of the moment.

"What the Hell did I miss?" Gus panted after breaking through the back door and into the kitchen.

"Get over here, you sweaty son of a bitch!" Shawn let go of Juliet's ass to wave Gus over.

Gus joined in the hug, an awkward and confused look on his face. "Eww!" Juliet and Chelsea backed away simultaneously from the amount of musk and sweat that Gus had brought to the hug. That killed the moment and left Shawn still hugging Gus.

"This is nice." Shawn said with a sleepy smile.

"Shawn, you can let go now." Gus tried to pry off his friend, but Shawn wouldn't let go. "Shawn, please! Chelsea's taking pictures!" That piece of information caused Shawn to finally let go, the two of them began a chase to get the pictures from the hysterically laughing girl while Juliet sat back and watched in amusement.

Shawn sat at his desk and typed away furiously on his keyboard, recording the latest piece of his growing novel. His head twitched up but his fingers kept flying when there was a quick knock on the door and Juliet came in. "Hey Jules, what can I do to you?"

"Don't you mean for me?" Juliet asked with a slightly tilted head, not sure if he meant it that way or not.

"Either way. What's up?" Shawn's head was into the story and also into the current off the record conversation.

Juliet took a seat on the open corner of his desk and watched his hands move quicker than she thought possible. It was distracting her from the purpose of her visit. Shawn's hands stopped and he turned full body to face her. "What's the story behind Chelsea? You two are obviously more than just friends, Shawn."

"Jules, I told you. Me and Chelsea are nothing like that." Shawn's voice was pleading for her to understand. "She's six years younger than me and…"

Juliet cut him off with a finger over his lips. "That's not what I meant, Shawn. You have a connection to her, you and Gus both, but mostly you. What's the story behind that?" Juliet had grown fond of this tight little unit that she was quickly beginning to feel a part of. She knew Shawn's story of him dropping out and Gus finishing college, but she didn't know anything about Chelsea and why Shawn had taken her in, much against Gus's wishes at first.

"Jules, I told you I can't tell you why. I can tell you though, that I'm the closest thing she has to a father right now. Way back when I had published my first novel about five years ago, Gus thought it'd be cool to have a meet and greet with a local essay competition for local high schools. My first novel was the cleanest, so it worked. I wasn't the guy everyone sees now." Shawn began the story.

"And Chelsea won?" Juliet guessed, not seeing how else this would go.

"Not by a long shot. She barely knew how to put together a paragraph. Her mechanics were shit at best. Her ability to tell a story though, the imagery she used and her topic… it was too real to be fake." Shawn scratched his day's worth of stubble as he remembered the old short story. "She didn't win, but I had to contact her anyway."

"How did Chelsea react to meeting a new and upcoming author?" Juliet wondered if the younger Chelsea was as excited, if not more, than Juliet had been at their first meeting.

"It was pretty cool." Chelsea said from the doorway, her back leaned against the frame and her arms crossed. "I didn't act blown away because he had put out ONE book, and I had a hard time feeling anything back then." Chelsea admitted, stepping into the room.

"Chelsea, I'm sorry. Please don't think we're saying anything bad behind your back." Jules rushed apologetically.

"Nah, it's cool. I've heard everything so far." Chelsea's face stayed stoic and her arms were still crossed. "Let's not delve any further though, alright?" Chelsea pointed a finger at them each in turn before refolding her arms. "She doesn't have to know about it."

Shawn and Juliet exhaled deeply when Chelsea left the room. "Her past is still a little rough for her to talk about. She did tell me that she's making it into a novel though, no strings attaching it to her. I think it'll be good." Shawn turned back to his computer.

"I'm sorry I dug, I just care about her. It helps to talk, but I know she has the 'Bottle Up Then Die' policy." Juliet didn't like it, but she had to respect Chelsea's wishes.

"Well, this has been way too much seriousness for one night. Jules, when do I get to put sexy time in this baby?" Shawn turned to face her again with a giant grin.

"Not today Spencer, not today." Juliet patted his shoulder and left Shawn in disappointment.


	5. Gus Has A Body Pillow?

"Juliet, aren't you usually going back to the dorms right about now?" Gus asked as he came down stairs from his office. He was definitely one to notice the routine of others in his life. If the routine of someone else was off, then he felt like his personal concept of time was under attack.

"Dude, let us finish the damn movie." Shawn threw up his free arm in visible upset.

"Seriously, chill out. She's been here ten minutes later than usual." Chelsea jumped in, though Juliet looked around nervously. This of course did not escape Shawn's eye. One of the reasons his characters wrote out so well was because Shawn was a profiler of real people. He could read almost anyone like a book.

"Jules, what's wrong?" Shawn asked as he paused the movie. Now everyone's eyes were on the poor nervous blonde. "It's us, Jules. If you can't tell us, who can you tell? Unless it's about clowns or raccoons, then please tell ANYONE else." Shawn had to try his damndest not to shudder.

"Trash stealing little masked bastards…" Chelsea mumbled almost inaudibly. She'd learned her hatred of them from Shawn after a very odd and compelling argument.

"Gus is right guys, I should be going." Juliet said quickly and pulled her purse up to her shoulder from the floor. "I have a test in the morning."

"Um, no you don't. I have you in Psychology. That's our first class of the day, I've seen your schedule." Chelsea pointed out.

"Juliet, seriously, what's going on?" Shawn asked as he gently took her arm to stop her from running.

"Nothing is going on, I should really just go." Juliet pulled away harder than necessary, making the guys disbelieve her even more. They had no idea what she was hiding, but Juliet definitely wasn't herself.

"What is she doing?" Chelsea asked from the back seat of the Blueberry. Gus and Shawn had binoculars, but Chelsea was left out.

"Nothing, she hasn't left her car yet." Shawn stated, passing the binoculars back to Chelsea. "Her dorm is right in front of her, why isn't she going in?" Shawn asked aloud, more to himself than to the others.

"Do you think she's in some kind of trouble?" Gus always jumped to conclusions, and they were usually of a darker nature. Nobody was going to ask him what kind of trouble he thought it was.

"Juliet in trouble? Please!" Chelsea openly laughed at Gus. "Her parents are in the stocks game and Juliet is a good girl. There's no way she did anything that would get her kicked out of the dorm."

"Could it have to do with the Randall Scandal?" Gus asked, looking to Shawn for answers.

"I doubt it, buddy. Randall has no idea Juliet was even there. I doubt he could even hit her with an accessory charge. She's definitely sleeping rough… like a brillo pad." Shawn pointed out as Juliet reclined her seat as far back as it went and took a blanket out of the back seat. "I'm gonna go get her. She should have come to us, even if it's one night. Whatever this is." Shawn broke out of the Blueberry before anyone could say otherwise, but nobody was going to. Whether Juliet liked it or not, she wasn't sleeping in her car. Shawn Spencer wasn't leaving her in a damn car.

Juliet snapped her eyes open when she heard a knock on her window. She calmed for only a moment before her eyes jumped again, seeing a pissed off looking Shawn Spencer. "Hi Jules. Whatcha doin?" Shawn asked with a smile though his eyes showed that he was actually hurt.

Juliet didn't even try to explain herself, instead she sighed and asked "What are you doing here, Shawn?" She knew she was busted, but she didn't think Shawn knew why she was sleeping rough.

"I could ask you the same, Jules. What happened? Why are you out here? If you need a place to crash for tonight, you should have just said something." Shawn offered in all seriousness.

"I'm fine Shawn, really." Juliet rolled the window back up, trying to signal that the conversation was over. She would soon find out it wasn't when Shawn opened her door. It definitely wasn't when Shawn reached over her and unbuckled her seatbelt. "Shawn, what are you doing?" Juliet asked awfully calm.

"You're coming back to my place." Shawn hooked an arm under her legs and wrapped the other around her shoulders, lifting her out of her seat and closing the door with his foot. He carried her bridal style all the way back to the Echo.

"Hi Juliet." Chelsea smiled brightly when Shawn put her down in the open backseat. Wanna be roomies tonight?" Her smile never faltered.

Shawn lead Juliet upstairs to his office/bedroom for a bit of privacy. He wasn't going to make a move, but he was going to try to get her to tell the truth. "Jules, when are you going to tell me why you tried to sleep in the Wake Up With A Bad Back Mobile?" Shawn jumped straight to the point, because what else would he do?

"Shawn, I really don't want to talk about this. It's nothing for you to worry about." Juliet tried to duck the conversation. She didn't like hiding anything from Shawn, she really really didn't want Shawn to feel responsible for her at any length.

"I'm really not giving you an option in this, Jules. You're not leaving my room till you tell me what's up, you blonde little riddle, you." Shawn crossed his arms and sat on the edge of his desk, Juliet sitting on the foot of the bed.

"Okay, fine. I've been living in my car all week because my parents' stocks bottomed and they pretty much lost everything. I have enough in my savings to pay this semester's tuition, but I can't afford the room and board." Juliet confessed, rubbing her arm nervously. She couldn't stand to look at Shawn. After a moment of silence, however, she had to look up, she had to see what he was thinking.

Shawn hopped off of his desk and sat on his chair before opening his laptop and going to the website of a local furniture store. Juliet watched as he quickly skimmed through their selections of this, that and the other thing.

"Shawn, what are looking for?" Juliet knew Shawn well enough at this point that he wasn't just ignoring her, that he already was hatching some oddball plan.

"I'm shopping for a bunk bed, Jules. Get Chelsea in here. She should have a say in what it looks like, too." Was Shawn just messing with her, or was he serious? It didn't seem like a Shawn prank, but Shawn wasn't a usual kind of guy. "I know you had a dorm room to yourself, but you just got a suite mate, and so did Chelsea." From Shawn's place at the desk he cracked the door open and shouted, "Hey yo Chelsea! Get your ass in here!" in a rough Boston accent.

"What? I'm trying to sleep over here!" Chelsea shouted back in a slightly better Boston tongue, the sound of her voice telling them that she was fast approaching. "Sweet, bunk beds!" Chelsea smiled looking down at the computer screen. "You and Gus shacking up?"

"Not exactly, little lady." Shawn smiled and made a weird criss cross thing with his arms between Chelsea and Juliet. "You two are. If Juliet would rather have a nice warm house over a cramped little car…" Shawn tried to lean his head over the back of the chair so he could see Juliet, but all he saw was the bedroom wall. "Jules, I can't see you. Did you nod yes yet?"

Shawn finally spun around and expectantly watched Juliet, as did Chelsea. "Come on Juliet, you know you want to." Chelsea urged her in a smug little voice. "You know you want this in your life more." She pointed to herself with both thumbs.

"More importantly, we get to see each other more and Gus makes all your food!" Shawn added in like Gus's cooking was going to win her over. "I've never wanted a boarding house this bad before. It'll be like a smaller version of Hey Arnold or Full House, but none of us are related."

Juliet seemed speechless, her mouth opened and closed a few times but nothing wanted to come out. She had only met Shawn five weeks ago and he was already offering her a place in his home, no strings attached. If Chelsea was down for a roommate, how could she say no? After she had decided this seemed like the best thing, because it was so much better than sleeping in the Bug, she finally said, "Yes, if you really don't mind, I would love to be here." Juliet smiled softly, still not sure if she should believe her luck or not.

Chelsea had finished classes for the next day at 3:15 and Juliet at 3:45. It was only moments later that Shawn and Gus had picked them up in Henry Spencer's truck. It wasn't very often that Shawn chose to visit his father, but when he did, it was because he needed something. The four of them together now headed for Santa Barbara House Fitters, where their bunk bed of choice was waiting for them.

"Are all of you sure about this? I don't want to…" Juliet was cut off by Shawn rumbling deep in his chest.

"Jules, when Chelsea needed a family and a place to go, we took her. You need help and a place to go, and we found you. We're not turning you away to live in a car. Chelsea's on board and if Gus isn't, he will be soon.

"Shawn, I already told you I was okay with it. I thought it was really decent of you." Gus said with enthusiasm, trying to save face with his new house mate and feeling something of pride for his best friend. "We're more than happy to have you, Juliet. You practically lived with us anyway." Gus turned to face her from the front seat. "Now I don't have to watch Shawn bounce off the walls every time you're on your way over." Gus stated matter of factly.

"I don't bounce." Shawn rolled his eyes at the truth he didn't want to admit to.

"You do too bounce, you vibrate at the least." Gus enjoyed putting Shawn in the awkward seat for once.

"Yeah, well you can suck it at least!" Shawn shouted, never one to back out of an argument even when beaten.

"Whatever Shawn." Gus rolled his eyes at his best friend, wondering how they stayed this close since they were five. "It's going to take all four of us to get this thing in here."

"Why didn't we just have them deliver it?" Chelsea asked like it was something that should have taken no thought at all.

"Because that's not how we do things around here, CJ. If you want something, you go and get it. You don't have someone just bring it to you!" That speech was oddly inspirational coming from Shawn… until he got caught up in the moment and whipped a hand full of pennies at Chelsea.

"What the Hell was that, Shawn? Go pick those up!" Gus pointed at the scattered copper projectiles.

"I got caught up in the moment. I'm going to pick those up and give them to the homeless guy over there, but I won't apologise!" Shawn stared down Chelsea, but Chelsea couldn't help but laugh.

"I wouldn't take your apology even if you did apologize! If I did, then I couldn't get you back later." Chelsea smirked, more than happy to go to war with Shawn. When these two prank titans went at it, it got real.

"I'll meet you guys inside. I'm gonna pick up some pennies, that's going to be a LOT of good luck. Then I'm going to give the hobo money and see if he can turn me into a werewolf." Shawn pointed to the sleeping man by the automatic doors.

"Homeless people can't turn other people into werewolves, Shawn." Juliet rolled her eyes as she tried to explain a simple fact to the man child. It went in one ear and out the other as he completely ignored the statement.

After a lot of cursing and swearing, laughter and tears, the bunk beds were finally situated in Chelsea and now Juliet's room. "Urgh!" Chelsea groaned as she crawled into the bottom bunk. "I hate moving, let alone moving other stuff."

Juliet laughed at Chelsea as the poor girl ran a tired hand down her face before an arm flopped seemingly lifeless over the side of the bed. "You didn't even try to call top bunk?" Juliet asked in confusion. She was pretty sure there was supposed to be an argument or small fight over the coveted position.

"You're older than me, Juliet. You get the top bunk, that's how the world has worked since the dawn of man." Chelsea said staring into the bunk above her, like she could see the first man.

"I think you've spent too much time around Shawn." Juliet chuckled and tossed her backpack on top of her bunk.

"Yo?" Shawn's head appeared in the doorway. The girls looked at him expectantly, not entirely sure why he was there. "I thought I heard my name…" Shawn trailed off, feeling doubt towards the need of his presence.

"You did hear your name." Juliet smiled, happy to see him. "I was just telling Chelsea I think she spends too much time around you. You guys think a lot alike."

Shawn completely lost that conversation due to his powerful ADD. "Jules, you have the top bunk!" Shawn said with a big grin. "The elder has had the top bunk since the dawn of man." Shawn stated like he had read it in a textbook somewhere. What he didn't understand, was what he did to earn a flying collision with Juliet's pillow. "That's sexist." Shawn threw the pillow at Chelsea for no apparent reason. "Now you hit Jules." Shawn instructed in a gentle tone.

"You just want to watch two hot girls have a pillow fight!" Chelsea shouted, knowing Shawn's newly revealed game.

Before Shawn could react, he fell to the ground with a thud. Where Shawn had just been, now stood Gus with a body pillow. "Did I hear pillow fight?"


	6. Juliet's Not So Fun Night

**The music behind this chapter is Face Down by the Red Jumpsuit Apparatus.**

 **WARNING: Somewhat sensitive material, things get a little rough.**

 **Also, hope you guys like Caring Shawn!**

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Shawn checked his watch, seeing that it was about time to go pick up Juliet and her friends from Tom Blair's Pub. He had agreed earlier to DD for the group of college girls that decided it was time for a fun Friday night. He had been invited by everyone, but didn't feel like getting hit on all night by tipsy college girls. Usually he would LOVE that, but there was only one he could think about.

With a quick check of his hair at the mirror by the door, he was on his way to get Jules and her two closest friends.

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"Juliet, when are you gonna cave and ask out Shawn? How haven't you already? You live in his house!" Stephanie slurred as they waited outside of the pub, waiting for their driver who was one half of the current discussion topic.

"I don't... it's just... it's weird, okay?" Juliet tried to get her mind to be even a little coherent, but it didn't want to play. She was the least drunk out of her friends, but she wasn't sober either. The current topic wasn't exactly easy for her. "Shawn's busy and I'm busy, and there's something about a chase in there. He's boyfriend material, but for some reason he doesn't see it, and he's afraid of hurting me, I think." The wheels started turning quicker than she expected, the cool breeze rolling in helping to clear her head. "He has a lot of problems, and I think he wants to fix it before he asks me out."

"He's so sweet!" Jessica chimed in, melting for Juliet. "He's hot and caring!?" She felt totally left out.

"Oh my God, is he ever!" Juliet concurred. "We already kissed once, and oh. My. God!" In a normal situation, Juliet would have been very mum on all of this, but tonight the alcohol in her system was working like a verbal siv, allowing everything to stream out. "Remember Daniel? Daniel has nothing on Shawn." The girls were definitely drawn in now.

"Keep talking Blondie. You can't stop now." Stephanie urged and Jessica nodded enthusiastically. "You kissed Shawn Spencer and didn't tell us?" Stephanie sounded almost offended. They must have missed the Good Morning Santa Barbara episode a while back.

"More than that, girls." Juliet smiled fondly at the memory. A certain part of her perfect anatomy was beginning to stir. "He knows how to use his tongue, and I wouldn't mind seeing him without a t-shirt again." Juliet bit her lip, remembering the way his hands and lips had roamed all over her before he stopped himself.

"You seem to be doing pretty well then, aren't you?" A seething voice sounded from behind Juliet and her friends froze.

"Daniel?" Juliet turned around and looked into the burning brown eyes of her ex-boyfriend, Daniel Hawthorne.

"Been busy, huh?" he wasn't amused at all. "Got yourself a new boy toy? Gonna kick him to the curb, too?" Juliet slowly backed away from her ex, who was walking towards her at a slightly quicker and menacing pace.

"No, and even if I did, it's none of your business." Juliet was afraid, but she wasn't going to back down like a beaten dog.

"None of my business, Julie? " Daniel chuckled humorlessly. "None of my... I loved you, damn it!" Daniel shouted, but Juliet couldn't help but get right back in his face at that last proclamation.

"Loved me?! Is having your dick in some random slut's mouth love to you?" Juliet yelled, not caring who heard. She was too drunk and too pissed to care anymore about making a scene. "You cheated on me, Daniel! I wasn't shit to you!"

Juliet's eyes nearly popped out of her head when Daniel forcefully grabbed her small wrist. She turned in his iron grasp to plead to her friends for help, but they had left her in drunken fear of a pissed off and sober Daniel. Juliet was alone with a raging Daniel. Where was Shawn?"

She was pulled from her thoughts by Daniel's other hand taking a strong hold of her chin. "I didn't want to cheat on you, damn it. But I needed to physically feel something. Through all of our time together, you never came close to putting out."

"Is that all you cared about? Is that all you wanted me for?" Juliet's voice fell from anger to hurt. She couldn't believe that someone she had thought loved her, someone she thought she loved would only keep her to get in her panties. It made her sick.

"That's what I'm going to get now." Daniel said through gritted teeth as he tugged her violently from the front of Tom Blair's and all but dragged her to the alley where no one would see them.

"Daniel, what the fuck are you doing?" Juliet cried, but her question was answered when she was pushed against the cold wall and Daniel's body was pressed against her. Juliet tried to fight back but could do little while Daniel grinded his quickly growing erection against Juliet's ass.

"You always had a great body. I waited far too long for this." Daniel growled into her ear, his hand in a tight grip over both of her wrists now.

"You're fucking sick." Juliet spat as she tried to fight him, but realized it was only pressing herself harder against him. "Is this really what you've reduced yourself to?"

"Shut the Hell up." He growled again before pressing his lips to Juliet's exposed neck, causing her stomach to lurch. "I'm going to enjoy this." he told her as he thrust extra hard against her, earning an angered grunt from the blonde pressed against the wall. "So firm." Daniel stated, using his free hand to violently cup her ass.

"I'm going to kill you, you know that." Juliet tried to threaten him out of it, but he only laughed at her. "Stop, Daniel, stop!" Juliet shouted when she felt his hand snake around her hip to press against her core. "This is sick!"

"This is mine." Daniel grunted, pressing harder yet before his fingers found the button and fly of Juliet's jeans. With relative ease, the button popped and he undid her zipper.

Juliet's brain was panicking, trying to find any way out of this situation. Her breathing deepened in worry when Daniel's fingers ghosted over the open top of her jeans. "Daniel, please don't!" she cried as his first digit viciously rubbed her panties, soon followed by the others. Where was Shawn?!

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"Hey! Hey!" Shawn stopped the Blueberry when two girls he recognized as Juliet's friends nearly threw themselves into his path. His foot left the pedal and slammed on the breaks just in time.

"Thank God, Shawn!" Stephanie tried to function through all of the alcohol. "Juliet's in trouble! She's yelling with her ex, and he's sooooo jealous and pissed!" Stephanie summarized as she and Jessica got into the tiny car.

"Still Tom Blair's?" Shawn barked as he gave the Blueberry all it had.

"Yes, hurry!" Jessica confirmed

"Why the Hell would you leave her?!" Shawn couldn't understand that for the life of him. How could they run for the hills while Juliet was left behind, when she was the one in real trouble?! If this guy did anything to Juliet, one of the few people he so deeply cared about, there would be blood and pain.

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Juliet kicked and tried to buck away from Daniel's strong hands as much as she could, trying to refuse him entrance as much as possible. He released her wrists to cup her full breasts. She reacted quickly, trying to push away his hand that tried to get inside her, but he was stronger than her, and his hand was already at the top of her panties. She was running out of time and her best efforts were accomplishing little.

Something clicked in her mind, and she remembered the pen she kept in her front pocket, if she could only get to it! Her hand shot down for her pocket while Daniel roughly groped her chest, much to Juliet's dissatisfaction. The pen was in her hand now, but all weight was removed from her in an instant and she heard a loud crash.

Juliet heard swears and grunting next to her as she righted herself, only to turn and see another man on top of Daniel, raining down on him with powerful blows.

It took a moment to register what was happening, what had happened. It was Shawn. Shawn had saved her from the worst night of her life. It could have been unthinkably worse.

While Juliet's brain decoded everything and the wall held her up, Shawn's violent blows became slower and slower as he became winded, his anger dripping away with every drop of Blood leaving Daniel's face. Remember that scene in Fight Club when Edward Norton wrecks Jared Leto? Yeah, it was like that.

Finally, Shawn decided there was no damage left to do other than death, but gave him a swift kick to the crotch to make sure it was a long time before he could ever try anything like this again. "What the fuck is wrong with you, man?" Shawn shouted at the incapacitated, bleeding excuse of a man. "Did that make you feel strong? You weren't good enough for her, so you thought you could take her?! You don't deserve to look at her, you don't deserve to breath!" Shawn had snapped, everything was red in his eyes and he wanted this man beyond repair for what he had done, what he had tried to do.

He brought his leg back for another punt, but arms around his back and chest made him stop cold. He turned around in their grasp to look into Juliet's red rimmed, impossibly blue eyes. "Jules, I'm so sorry. So, so so sorry." Shawn tried to stay strong for her, he couldn't cry over this right now. He could later, alone, when he knew she was safe and still Jules. He had never been through anything like that, he didn't know what to do for her. "If I would have known Jules, I would have come out with you and your stupid friends." He told her honestly, his voice threatening to crack.

Juliet stood a moment, motionless and not making a sound before throwing herself against Shawn and hugging him with all of her remaining strength. "Thank you, Shawn. Thank you." she exhaled into his ear, causing him to hug her even tighter, so relieved he had gotten there when he did. He wished to God though that he would have gotten there sooner.

"Come on, let's get you home." Shawn said quietly as he took off his jacket to put around her shoulders. It wasn't that cold out, but he felt like it was the thing to do. He had seen it in countless movies and shows when traumatic experiences happened. He had even written it into a few of his novels.

When Juliet curled into the warm fabric and nuzzled the collar, Shawn decided it had been the right move.

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Shawn parked in the driveway and sat motionless in the driver's seat, trying to digest what he had just seen and to who it happened to. He would have acted the same no matter who it was, that's the kind of guy Shawn is. The fact that it was his Jules who had been assaulted, who had been touched, made it so much worse.

Shawn opened his eyes when a soft hand took hold of his. He turned and lightly smiled, feeling really unsure of what to do, what to say. "Jules..." Shawn exhaled simply, not good at this kind of thing.

"Can we go inside, please?" Juliet's eyes were more focused now than they had been when Shawn had first got to her. Juliet was a damn strong girl, Shawn had known. He was unsure of how hard being violated would hurt her. She was proud and strong, but the waters were still murky.

"Yeah." Shawn nodded, trying to find his head. He looped around the front of the car and opened the door for her. He held out his hand and expected her to take it.

"Shawn, I really appreciate how much you care, but I can walk on my own." Juliet informed him with a smile, her eyes shining a little more but still less than Shawn would like.

"Sorry Jules." Shawn apologized and looked at the ground dejectedly.

Juliet rolled her eyes and bit back a smile at Shawn's shyness at the situation. She understood his unfamiliarity with the events of the night and she really did appreciate him taking it delicately instead of the childish way he usually took life by. She had a rough night, and she loved his attention, but she still saw herself as a strong and proud woman. She didn't need to be babied. Shawn had saved her from something that would have left her as broken as what Shawn feared, but she hadn't been broken.

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The lights were all off like they had been when Shawn left, much to his inner joy. If he had his way, the whole night would stay under wraps. He figured Juliet would prefer it that way too. "Everyone's already asleep. Do you want to just go to bed, or do you want me to make you some cocoa?" Shawn offered, not breaking eye contact as he closed and locked the door behind them. In Shawn's personal experiences, cocoa could help any situation.

"Cocoa sounds really good." Juliet rubbed her arm under Shawn's jacket and looked around the spacious house like it was the first time she'd ever seen it. Shawn feeling awkward was making her feel awkward.

"Go get into pajamas and I'll get us some cocoa." Shawn told her softly, wrapping her in a hug that she happily returned.

She surprised him with a gentle kiss to his jawline, which he didn't expect. "Thanks for being so sweet, Shawn."

"Of course Jules, I'm here for you." Shawn kissed the top of her head in a loving gesture without being too invasive. Now was not the time to try to advance on her.

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Shawn came back into the cozy living room to find the light on but Juliet was nowhere to be seen. He furrowed his brow, wondering where she went. Had she decided to go to bed after all?

If she had, now he had two hot chocolates instead of one. If it came down to it, oh well, he shrugged to himself.

He got to his doorway and slowly pushed it open with one foot to find Juliet beneath his covers with the TV volume turned down low. "There you are." Shawn smiled, holding up the mugs of cocoa, causing Juliet to smile back.

She sat up and outstretched her arms, ready to receive the warm and delicious cup of flavor. "I wanted to lay down and relax." Juliet explained what she was doing in his bed, more or less.

"You don't have to explain yourself to me, Jules." Shawn chuckled as he handed over the mug. "Careful, it's still hot." he warned.

Juliet scooted over and patted the bed, telling Shawn to join her. "This is still your bed." Juliet rolled her eyes and smiled at his reluctance to get too close to her. "I'm not gonna bite." She smiled as Shawn gave in and joined her under the covers.

"Jules?" Shawn's breath caught in his throat as his bare foot brushed naked skin.

"Hmm?" Juliet smiled over her mug.

"You're not wearing pants." Shawn told her as if she had no idea herself.

"I don't like sleeping in pants." Juliet blushed at the fact that only a pair of panties and Shawn's pajamas separated herself from him.

"If you're comfortable, then I am." Shawn got himself comfortable under the covers to watch Monsters, Inc. He was more than satisfied with Juliet's light hearted choice.

"I'm perfectly comfortable, Shawn. I know you would never hurt me. You would never lay a finger on me without my full permission. I really appreciate that you care and respect me." Juliet took his free hand in hers and squeezed.

"I wouldn't be any other way with you, Jules." Shawn said honestly. "I was so furious Jules, when I saw that fucker on you, I flashed so red. I couldn't imagine anyone hurting you, and then I actually saw someone hurting you? I knew that was game over for him." Shawn was shaking and couldn't bring himself to look Juliet in the eye.

Juliet lightly took hold of Shawn's chin to force him to look at her. "I was scared, Shawn. He wanted to hurt me, and he came really close. But I'm not broken. You got there, you were my knight in shining armor tonight when my friends left me. I could never feel in danger around you." Juliet's voice never before had this degree of conviction. She never wanted Shawn to feel any less than great. He may not be perfect, but he was no monster.

"As long as I have power, Jules, nothing will ever happen to you. We're going to get you through school, we're going to see you in the spotlight just like me. You will never be alone, Jules." Shawn crossed his heart and offered her a pinky finger for her to seal his promise.

Juliet rolled her eyes and met Shawn's pinky with her own. "You were worrying me, Spencer. You haven't done anything childish tonight. I thought I lost you." Juliet joked, her eyes sparkling at the level Shawn was used to, and had missed for even the short time it was gone.

"Ms. O'Hara, I will have you know that I will never fully grow up, and just the fact that you think I ever would severely wounds me." Shawn put his hand over his heart, mock pain marring his face.

"Just shut up and drink your cocoa." Juliet giggled, hitting Shawn's arm.

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 **That was a shorter chapter, but that felt SOOOO long when I was writing it. Don't expect chapters to get like that too often. I hope you guys don't hate me for this one. I'll be back with more later.**


	7. Da Dip

**After last chapter, I just felt like doing something fun and light. I'm just going to listen to Jock Jams on Pandora the entire time I write this.**

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Juliet woke up to the sounds of Ride That Bass by Quad City DJs shaking the entire house. She stretched and got up to see Chelsea was already out of bed. What the Hell was going on?

She walked down the hallway, noticing Shawn and Gus's rooms were empty too. The screaming beats were definitely coming from downstairs.

Once downstairs, all the smells of a balanced breakfast greeted her senses. Juliet inhaled deeply before opening her eyes to see her three house mates in athletic gear. "Guys, what's going on?" she asked when Gus tossed her a blueberry muffin.

"Today's the day we burn this motherfucker to the ground, Jules." Shawn replied with a full smile, filling up a glass of orange juice for her.

"What's that supposed to mean?" she furrowed her brow, her answer not having been answered at all.

"It's game day girl, and we have room on the team if you want in." Chelsea pointed at the taller blonde like she was an Uncle Sam poster.

A knock at the door caused Shawn, Gus and Chelsea to smile, but Juliet could only wonder who it was. The sound of the door opening made Juliet guess they knew whoever it was. "You losers ready to do this?!" the voice of the SBPD's head detective Carlton Lassiter boomed through the house.

"LASSIE IN THE HOUSE!" Shawn grinned when the taller and older man entered the kitchen in shorts and a t-shirt, a basketball under his arms.

"O'Hara, you can't play like that." Lassiter took in her pajama clad state. "She is playing, right?" Lassiter turned to Shawn.

"I hope so." Shawn replied, looking to Juliet expectantly.

"Is this a joke?" Juliet couldn't believe what was happening. Was she seriously going to play a blacktop game with these guys? Don't get her wrong, she loved these three and had gotten to know Lassiter a bit because he and Shawn had done work together for Shawn's novels and Shawn doing consulting work for the SBPD.

"The Santa Barbara Blacktop Hoops Tournament is no joke, O'Hara." Lassiter scoffed at her. "We've been doing it for four years and we've won twice." Lassiter informed her proudly.

"The last two years, we made it to the finals. Last year we only lost by one god damn game!" Gus shook his head in anger.

"Jules, I get the feeling you know your way around the rectangle." Shawn popped a questioning eyebrow.

"I don't know guys, I haven't played since high school." Juliet said a little nervously, but deep inside she really wanted to throw the rock down. She was damn good and she knew it. She had the hands of a master thief and owned on defense.

"Come on Jules, what's it going to take to get you to play? This matching t-shirt?" His brow popped up again as all four members held up their custom game jerseys from Custom Ink. "If you don't play, what am I going to do with this?" The one he displayed for her said 'Maniac' on the back name spot.

"You read my diary?!" Juliet fumed. How else would he know that was her high school team nick name? She damn well earned that name.

"I plead the 5th." Shawn said quickly. "That Daniel guy sounds like a real douche." Shawn said, not realizing he was the ex-boyfriend that had attacked Juliet less than a month ago.

"Yeah. He sure is." Juliet said coldly, not caring to bring up details. "Give me the damn jersey." Juliet threw up her hand to catch it. "This is nice." Juliet admired the Dri-Fit fabric. "Hakuna Masuckit? Really guys?"

"You can judge all you want Jules, but we get shit done. Now go get dressed." Shawn clapped once and pointed back the way she came. She was about to snap for being told what to do like that, but his promise of an omelet waiting for her on her return silenced any argument she was going to make.

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Lassiter's Ford Fusion pulled up and Juliet couldn't believe how many people actually showed up to this thing. So many teams and so many spectators. She hadn't seen a crowd for a game like this since the state championship her senior year.

"Look at all these people just waiting to get shit on." Shawn said in awe as he stepped out of the car, adjusting the elastic band of his shorts. "Let's bring this house down." Shawn held his fist out for a team bump, even the stern Carlton Lassiter joined in.

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The team found an empty warm up court, having a copy of the schedule so they knew when they were playing. "Jules, you're the newest one to the block, so you need to know how we roll on the court." Juliet couldn't believe he was trying to talk like that. There was no way Shawn Spencer was going to be good in a real game. He was damn good at trashketball, but this was different.

"Rain Man." Shawn pointed to the name on the back of his jersey. "I rain threes all day. This," he said pointing to Gus, "is the Jackal. Gus is our mid range shooter."

Chelsea turned around and pointed to her jersey name. "Ankle Breaker. I can fake out anything that moves to own the paint."

Lassiter didn't turn around like the others, but still explained his game name and roll. "C-Dog. I can jump like you wouldn't believe, and I dunk." Lassiter was proud of that last accomplishment.

"Alright Maniac, time to wow us. What's your game?" Chelsea asked with anticipation.

"I think you guys just need to see it." Juliet knew what happened when it was game time. She was like a whole new animal, one she didn't want to unleash on her unsuspecting friends. "Let's warm up and get this going."

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It was finally time for their first game, the final of the first round. _Last but not least in the first round, we have the new comers, Dank Traaaiiinn!"_ The announcer really got into his job, which everyone could appreciate. _"Coming back for the fifth time and last year's runner up... HAKUNAH MASUCKIIIITTTT!"_ How couldn't you kick ass with this kind of intro?

The two teams came out and shook hands before taking their respective positions for the tip off, with Lassiter in the center. He wasn't lying when he said he had hops, sending the ball back to his team being no problem.

 _"The Jackal heads down court and passes to Maniac. Maniac doesn't want it, pitching it deep to C-Dog who DUNKS IT FOR ONE!"_

 _"_ See Jules, well oiled machine." Shawn smiles as they hustle back to defend.

 _"Dank Train's Forward McDunk burns past Ankle Break and C-Dog."_

"I got this." Juliet smiles back at Shawn and runs ahead to confront McDunk.

 _"Maniac rips up court, McDunk right in her sights. Maniac steals from McDunk without slowing down!"_ The announcer couldn't believe what he just saw. Juliet had sprinted straight at him, dipped in long enough to take the ball and was gone down court. " _Easy lay up for Maniac, putting Hakunah Masuckit up by two."_

 _"_ Get wrecked nerd! What do you think this is, your mom's book club?! Get that weak crap outta here!" Juliet shouted in the player known as McDunk's face before rejoining her team.

"Jules, holy shit!" Shawn said with a pleased smile. "Way to tank that guy." he held his fist out for a bump, which was quickly met.

"I told you it had to wait for the game. I can't just unleash the Maniac on you guys. There's a beast under this ponytail, Spencer, and it's hungry." The fiery animosity in Juliet's usually calm voice put a look of fear into Shawn's.

"Have I ever told you that your frightening crazy eyes are also really hot?"

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The team all but fell through the front door at the end of the day, exhausted from whoopin' ass all day.

"Good job today, team. We played hard, we were like a machine. Lassie, how's your hops?" Shawn checked on his team like a real captain.

"Hot bath and some icy hot, and I'll be fine." Carlton assured them.

"Chelsea, how are the ankles?" Shawn checked on his paint warrior.

"Never better, captain." Chelsea saluted before falling onto the couch with absolutely no grace.

"Gus, how's your everything?" Gus played a good game, but he wasn't exactly sturdy.

"I took that charge from the Dank Raptors and fell flat on my ass, Shawn. How do you think my coccyx feels?" Gus snapped as he waddles to the kitchen for an ice pack.

"Well there's that I guess." Shawn frowned at Gus's cold reception. He just shrugged it off. "Jules, how's that speed feeling?" Shawn was most worried about Juliet, who had been wild and crazy all day, getting too far into the game. She trash talked the other teams, pepped Hakunah Masuckit along with Shawn, and was definitely pedaling the hardest on the court.

"You know the answer to that, Spencer!" Juliet hollered back from the kitchen, lobbing water bottles at everyone in the living room. "If they want to step to this, they're going to fall down in front of this." Juliet motioned to her body.

"Jules, are you sure you're okay?" Gus asked, worried about Juliet's mental health. She and Gus were the most sensible two in the house.

"Sharp as cheddar Gus, just worry about your own coccyx, got it?" Juliet flicked her head at the now horrified Gus.

"Everybody rest up, I'll be back same time in the morning. We got the semi-finals tomorrow. These guys aren't jokers." Lassiter sternly pointed at the other four who took his words seriously, but Juliet only scoffed at him.

Gus and Chelsea retired to bed when Lassiter left, but Shawn sat on the cool counter top in the kitchen, an ice pack rapped in paper towel was pressed to his right elbow.

"Good game Spencer, those threes were a work of art." Juliet said in all seriousness as she jumped up on the counter next to him. "How you holding up, captain?"

"I'll live." Shawn winced when he tested his elbow.

Juliet's eyes caught the brief look of pain on Shawn's face before he weakly smiled, trying to hide it.

"Shawn, are you okay?" Juliet's game face melted in an instant, Maniac was gone and mild mannered Jules was back. "What happened?" she gently took hold of his arm to inspect the bruised and bloodied mess that was Shawn's elbow.

"The Dank Raptors play dirty, Jules. Remember that lay up I missed?" he asked looking into her concerned blue eyes. "I missed because one of those fuckers pushed me. Took a direct elbow hit to the hoop pole." Shawn explained as he reapplied the ice pack.

"Shawn, there's no way you can play tomorrow with that arm." Juliet said in exasperation, more worried for him than she was about winning.

"Don't worry Jules, I got this." Shawn smiled again, trying to assure her but to no avail. "I just need to wrap this sucker up like an Ace bandage burrito and we'll be fine." Shawn kissed her head before hopping down off the counter, something he had been making a harmless habit of since he had promised to always be there for her the night Daniel had attacked her.

"Please just take it easy on it." Juliet urged one more time before he was gone.

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 _"Rain Man is still making it storm out here!"_ the announcer shouts after Shawn had just sunk another two pointer for the board. Just three more points and they'd be the first to 21. His arm was burning and throbbing, but he wouldn't show it.

"Nice one, Shawn!" Gus clapped his pained partner on the back as they hustled down court.

"Yeah, just another three games..." Shawn briefly grabbed his arm and scowled at the score board.

He caught the outline of Juliet's athletic body in his peripheral. She watched him sympathetically, but when she turned to face the other team, Maniac was back in place. Like a switch.

 _"Maniac charges ahead again, but what's this?! Maniac misses the steal! Slamasaurus slips past Ankle Breaker! He jumps for the dunk, SMACKED DOWN BY C-DOG!"_

 _"_ Good job, Lassie, good job!" Shawn clapped and followed the taller detective down court where Gus was already breaking away for an easy one pointer. "Okay, no problem." Shawn coached himself and the team.

This time, Juliet went face to face instead of charging, having a damn near slap fight with the guy in possession. Reaching isn't a foul so easily earned in the Hoops Tournament.

The slap war finally went in Juliet's favor, an extra long reach allowed her to fully wrap the ball and send it under her legs to Shawn who wanted it anyway.

Shawn ripped down court, no one to stop him. He wasn't graceful with the ball like Chelsea was, but he could keep his hands on it.

He stopped at the free throw line and took up the ball. _"Rain Man positions himself for the kiss of death. He weighs the ball, aims, he takes the shot!"_ Everything goes silent as the ball sails, but Shawn knew he would fall short when his arm gave out.

 _"C-Dog's in midair, he slams the ball down for an alley-oop!"_ Shawn could only thank Lassiter for the back up and shake that one off.

"Nice try, Spencer. Save it for tomorrow." Lassiter tried to keep his spirits up, even if just a little.

"Yeah, thanks Lassie." Shawn answered hollowly. He knew there was nothing he could really do, and he hated that.

"Shawn, come on, one more point and we can go home." Juliet briefly squeezed his hand. "We can do this." she smiled, getting him to genuinely smile back.

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"How's that elbow?" Juliet asked Shawn once the house had settled for the night. Shawn's arm was going to be vital in the championship series.

"Hurts like a motherfucker." Shawn admitted as he lifted off the ice pack. The color was a sick mixture of green, black and purple. "I'm glad I got my tetnis shot this year. I don't want to be a werewolf. Maybe for a day or two, but that's it."

"Shawn, that looks ready to fall off." Juliet said in alarm, taking in his war wound. "No wonder you missed that last shot." Juliet said softly, knowing that was a soft spot to Shawn's pride.

"I know what you want from me, Jules, but I can't sit out. Not when the championship is on the line. What would Michael Jordan and the Loony Tunes think?" Shawn tried to defend his honor.

"That keeping your arm attached is more important than a game!" Juliet found Shawn to be straight up ridiculous at this point.

"If I had Bill Murray to sub out for, I'd happily ride the bench and bring pom-poms. The closest I have to Bill Murray is Buzz, and that's how we lost last year. All he can do is rebound!" Shawn hated sitting out almost as much as he hated the newest Die Hard installment. They need to know when to quit.

"Fine Shawn, just do you. I'm trying to care for you, to take care of you like you took care of me when Daniel attacked me. But if you don't care, why should I?" Juliet was about ready to storm out.

"Wait, Daniel the Fuck Face is the..." Shawn realized, now feeling more justified than ever in hitting both of their guts since they were the same bags of shit.

Shawn sighed and rubbed his good hand through his hair. "Go to bed, Jules. I'll see you in the morning." Shawn tried not to let their something of an argument seep into his goodnight to her.

"Goodnight, Shawn." Juliet tried to do the same. Shawn had saved her in more ways than one; academically, physically, economically, and most of all, he was her best friend and confidant. He could be block headed at times, like now, but she could never stay angry at him.

Shawn felt similar allegiance to her in the last sense. He would never turn her out, never stop helping his Jules. He didn't feel like he meant that much to her, but she was his whole damn world now.

Once Juliet had set off to bed after her best attempt at a smile, Shawn had need of a phone call. "Dr. Ramos, this is Shawn Spencer."

"Ah, Mr. Spencer! How wonderful to see you!" the older man exclaimed into the phone, "What can I do for my favorite author?"

"So I'm guessing you do remember the time I saved your private practice by proving you innocent of murder, writing it into a novel and got you huge publicity?" Shawn rambled, knowing the little reminder may help him.

"Yes, Shawn, I remember." Dr. Ramos chuckled. "How could I forget? What can I do for you my friend?"

"I need you to make me up a little something, Doc."

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Warm up time arrived for Hakunah Masuckit, on the final day of the Santa Barbara Blacktop Hoops Tournament. Only one team remained, their rivals from the four years they've played... The School of Ball.

It was psych up time, the dreaded best two out of three format was fast approaching.

"Has anyone seen Shawn?" Juliet asked looking around the practice courts and then the parking lot.

"No, I haven't seen him since last night. He texted me this morning saying he would meet us here." Gus replied, worrying about his friend and teammate as well. Only Juliet knew about Shawn's worsening injury, and she hoped it hadn't gotten too much worse over night. It was definitely emergency room worthy.

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"Here you go, Shawn. I made you three vials. If it's best two out of three, this gives you three games of juice. You need to wrap it up, or given the look of your arm, you are going to be playing in excruciating pain. I recommend you don't play at all, but I know how stubborn you are. Please see me to get that properly taken care of after you're all showered." Dr. Ramos instructed him.

"What's in this anyway, Doc?" Shawn asked, eyeballing the small case that held his designer pain killers.

"The pain killer component is morphine, but there's a natural herbal element to keep you from becoming drowsy. Combating the morphine, it won't give you any kind of edge in the game. Good luck, Mr. Spencer."

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"Hey guys, sorry I'm late." Shawn said just when the team was getting ready to go in short handed.

"About damn time, Spencer!" Lassiter barked, not in the mood to lose to the same team three years in a row.

"What took you so long?" Gus asked, almost as pissed as Lassiter.

"Yeah, are you okay?" Juliet had to know, being aware of Shawn's damn near dead elbow.

"Everything's okay guys, I just had some personal shit to do. No big deal." Shawn replied to all of them.

"Glad you're here, captain." Chelsea fist bumped Shawn as they all headed for the game court.

Juliet noticed how easily Shawn had met that fist bump with his bad arm when he could barely move it without crying out last night. Those thoughts were shaken from her when they were called out to the court.

" _Here come the two come the two time Santa Barbara Blacktop Hoops Tournament champs, HAKUNAH MASUCKIT!"_ At the end of the introduction, Shawn lead the team through the fan made banner that each team got if they were good and popular enough. They easily met both requirements. Space Jam by the Quad City DJs had everyone standing.

 _"Now to the court, your defending champs and also two time champs, THE MONSTARS!"_

"Huddle team, huddle!" Shawn called everyone in before toss up. "These assholes have taken it to us the last two years, but it's our time now. We can wrap this up in two games if we really pop and roll."

"None of that crazy cowboy shit this year, Spencer!" Chelsea pointed.

"Yeah, yeah." Shawn rolled his eyes. "Let's remember to keep up plenty of team work, talk lots of shit, try hard, and guys..." Shawn dramatically lowered his head before slowly looking up again. "Let's have fun and kick ass!"

 _C-Dog and Big Murray are face to face for the big tip off. The ball is up and sent back to the Monstars._

 _Honky-tonk starts the walk down court, keeping an eye on Hakunah Masuckit. These guys are dangerous. Honky-tonk sees Maniac coming right at him. This girl has dangerous hands, she has no problem with quick steals. She's taking her swipes, trying sneak in for a quick turnover._

"Damn girl, you grabby. You like balls?" Honky-tonk chuckles at Juliet, her attempts to steal are relentless.

"I only see one real ball in front of me." Juliet smirks, not letting his banter get in her head.

 _Honky-tonk passes quick to White Thunder, getting out of Maniac's range. The Jackal steps in to stop forward motion. White Thunder tries to fake him out, but the Jackal ain't no fool! White Thunder gets rid of it, hitting up Big Murray who slam dunks for the first point!_

 _Hakunah Masuckit is now in possession, the Jackal bringing it down. The Jackal closes in but wants none of it, passing to Ankle Breaker. Ankle Breaker earns that name, because this chick is trickier than Run DMC. Ankle Breaker fakes out past Back Breaker and dishes to C-Dog who throws down a slam dunk! Two dunks to start off this game._

 _Shot Caller starts back with it and trots it down no problem, Honky-tonk containing Maniac to stop any steal attempts. Rain Man is coming up quick to defend, but Shot Caller throws it up and sinks the two points! 3-1, MONSTARS!_

"A big fan of that, are ya?" Shot Caller laughs as he back pedals to defend.

"We'll see who wears it better!" Shawn called after him.

 _Ankle Breaker starts the move down court and the Jackal calls for it. The Jackal receives but immediately hands it over to Rain Man and sets up the screen. Rain Man pops up and releases... it's good for two to tie the game at 3-3! This has the makings of a close one!_

"19 more points to go, man!" Shawn throws his arm up in challenge.

"It's 18!" Big Murray argues, correcting Shawn in front of everybody.

"Worry about your game instead of my counting, Jack!" Shawn fires back.

 _Honky-tonk brings the ball up again, but Maniac isn't wasting any time! She speeds ahead and swoops in for the steal without slowing down! She has the break away and the lay up to take the lead!_

"What are you gonna do now? Gonna cry? I ain't wiping no tears, son!" Juliet jumps up right in Honky-tonk's face.

"Easy Maniac, easy." Shawn lightly grabs her shoulder, trying to calm her down. Juliet's trash talk was surprisingly harsh when she got into it.

 _Honky-tonk gives Maniac no chance and dishes to Backbreaker who spins around the Jackal, drops it off to White Thunder who puts it up... it's a brick and C-Dog has the rebound. Rain Man is already half way down court. C-Dog long bombs to Rain Man... who makes it splash for two!_

Shawn smiles with pride and a bit of cocky, but his keen sense of observation pick up a quick huddle. The Monstars break and look determined, maybe even... devious.

Hakunah Masuckit takes up positions and the Monstars bring their game, their covers close and trying to box out the paint.

 _Big Murray has an almost open path straight to the hoop. He charges and quick fakes C-Dog. He's up and he slams it!_

"Alright, who wants this one?" Shawn asks, not wanting to hog the game.

"Man, if you feel hot, then take it as far as you can." Gus tells him, not feeling on his best. He felt okay physically, but his ego was a little rough right now.

"Let's go for the throat, Spencer." Juliet confirms, giving him the nod to go all in.

 _The Jackal starts out behind the line to start the rush. Rain Man is running down the court, full sprint. Rain Man stops at the three point and the Jackal bombs it! Rain Man has it, fakes the jump shot and Shot Caller falls for it. Rain Man tries to put it up but White Thunder slaps it out from behind. Rain Man chases it, gets it back, he's trying to dunk?! Shot Caller from behind! Hits the ball, Rain Man comes down and he's tripping!_ _He can't stop!_ The announcer holds his breath as Shawn connects face first with hoop's pole at running pace. The same way he wrecked his elbow.

 _Rain Man hits the pole hard and is down!_ Shock is evident in the announcer's voice. _I think we may have to stop this game. That is A LOT of blood!_

"SHAWN!" Juliet screams, running to his side, his body so motionless. "God, oh God oh God oh God." Juliet can't control herself, seeing the seemingly lifeless body of her best friend, the man she wants to just give in on himself and take her out like she knows he wants to, but refuses to let himself. "Shawn, come on, this isn't funny!" Juliet yells at him like this is just a prank he's taken too far.

Gus was also at Shawn's side, rolling him over and rolling up his own removed t-shirt to put under Shawn's head. Chelsea was holding Juliet as she tried not to break down herself. Lassiter of course, was in charge of things and coolly, calmly calling in an ambulance.

"Damn it, Shawn!" Juliet finally broke down into Chelsea's shoulder. Shawn had saved her in her time of need, when she had been attacked. But here in this moment, he was out cold and blood rushed from his head. She could do nothing to repay the favor. Shawn's world was black and Juliet's was burning.

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 **A huge thank you to everyone reading this little tale of mine. Every review, follow and favorite, even seeing the hit counter on this story going up, makes me so happy!**


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